Mario Jardel's time in England was short and sweet, but the shit that went down off the pitch couldn't have been more different, mate.
The Brazilian forward arrives in England
In 2003, the Brazilian forward rocked up at Bolton Wanderers as one of their most exciting-ever signings, joining from Sporting on a free transfer. The deal was another in the mould of what had brought Sam Allardyce's Wanderers great success to start the millennium, giving massive names big paydays, with their salaries offset by their free agent status.
Jardel's impressive CV
There was all the hope in the world Jardel could be as good as or even better than Youri Djorkaeff, Jay-Jay Okocha and Ivan Campo, as his CV was one of the best on the continent. The Fortaleza-born star won the European Golden Boot in 1999 and 2002 and was quite frankly unstoppable in front of goal.
Injuries and personal trauma
It appeared as though Bolton and Allardyce had pulled off a coup for the ages, yet it soon became clear that all was not well. Jardel did score three in 11 for Wanderers to show why they signed him, but his injury-hit spell on the sidelines for Sporting the previous season had a more worrying explanation behind it. Later opening up on his personal trauma post-retirement Jardel recalled: “In 2002, I overdosed on cocaine and stayed awake for seven days. “I hired escorts and I stayed in that life thinking that nothing was going to happen to me, that everything was fine with me. “Being a person in the public eye is not easy. We have a very high salary and, at my level, even more so.”
Jardel's decline and battle with addiction
Jardel wasn’t strictly a free agent, and Bolton had to agree to pay up to €1.5million based on his performances, but they never came. He failed to find the net in the Premier League, and although his three goals helped Bolton to the League Cup final, he departed halfway through the season to Serie A side Ancona where things weren’t any better. Jardel had ten Brazil caps and one goal at this point, but would never appear for his country again.
Jardel's road to recovery
The tale becomes all the more tragic when you factor in how aware he was of what was at stake. Upon signing for Bolton on a £45,000 per-week as the highest paid player in club history, he said: "This is the opportunity I need to resurrect my career. "I still have the ability to score a lot of goals and I want to become a hero in Bolton and a success in the Premiership.” Jardel’s scoring never came back, though, and short stints in Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Cyprus, Australia and Bulgaria followed. “I am very aware of my problem, of my daily struggle,” he said, years later reflecting on his career. “What matters is that I am alive and I say 'no to drugs'."
