The new life of Swansea City favourite Guillem Bauza, the fully qualified doctor who got sick of football

Mere months after Fernando Torres and Andres Iniesta were lifting the World Cup trophy in Johannesburg, Guillem Bauza was training in the more modest surroundings of Hereford Racecourse.

The contrast in fortunes with his former Spanish age-grade team-mates was not lost on Bauza.

Having been released by Swansea City that summer, Bauza had pretty much fallen out of love with the beautiful game.

Yet, at the age of 24, he wasn't scared of retirement.

"I was starting to be sad with football but I was never afraid of quitting football," he explains.

"I was happy with my career and I had already started my studies."

Because, along with football, there was another career path Bauza was interested in travelling along.

And the city of Swansea proved just as pivotal in helping him with that dream as it did with his footballing ones.

When Bauza was a teenager, he was playing alongside some of the finest Spanish players of his generation.

Torres, Iniesta, Bauza. Team-mates throughout the Spanish age-grade system.

"I was just lucky that the year I was born was the same as some great players like Fernando, Andres, Jose Antonio Reyes, Joan Capdevilla," he says.

"Several players who have made a great career and I enjoyed playing with them. We were lucky to all be the same age.

"I played from 15 to 19 with them, won a European Championship and played in a World Cup. They’re incredible memories."

When he joined the Swans, Bauza claimed he was a better player than Torres - albeit on the PlayStation.

However, over the years, he's become more philosophical about his skills on Pro Evolution Soccer.

"It's more a case of you play with a team that wins the most or has the fastest players. You may not be faster than Fernando in real life, but you can find someone in the game who is!"

Their careers would take very different paths, but before any of that, Bauza was weighing up following another path.

"Because of my family and upbringing, becoming a football player was never a career, it was something that could come by chance," he said.

"So I had to choose what I wanted to be. I was making plans for my future.

"I liked science and helping people, so becoming a doctor was my ambition."

Soon, football and medicine would force him into a choice. University or a professional contract with hometown club RCD Majorca?

Football won that initial battle.

"It’s a short career and I think it was a good decision."

After a few years playing in the Spanish second division with Majorca B and then Espanyol B, a fellow Spaniard offered him the chance to find pastures new in SA1.

"It was a blocked road at Espanyol with so many strikers there so, having spoken to my agent, I decided I wanted an opportunity abroad.

"I think around that time, Roberto Martinez had just become Swansea manager. He wanted to bring a new paradigm to British football.

"He wanted to bring something new and look for players around different countries that had a different style. He looked to the lower leagues of Spain.

"They invited me to see the training ground. I visited Wales and stayed in Swansea for two days.

"It was very easy to agree on terms as the vision the club had really fitted with me and my life. It was an easy conversation."

For Bauza, moving to Britain was exactly what he had been told it would be like. Awful weather, plenty of nature and very welcoming people with "incomprehensible" accents.

"A small city, but a big football community"

But there was one thing that made Swansea feel more like home for Bauza.

Martinez had a vision for the Swans that revolved around bringing in players from different countries and cultures. The result was an influx of Spanish stars - with Angel Rangel, Andrea Orlandi and Gorka Pintado all joining around the same time.

"The same season I joined, Angel and Andrea signed too. It was us three in the first year and made a little Spanish community," he remembers.

"Because it worked and the team did well, with the Spanish and Dutch imports bringing a new style to the club and how to think big.

"When something works, everyone does it. So the next year, more players arrived.

"For a few years, there were a lot of Spanish players there. It was a time when Spanish football was doing well - so you had so many good players in Spain which helped the national team and probably forced some players to look for opportunities elsewhere.

"It was a fashion thing to have Spanish players. Roberto made it very easy for us to transition.

"The difficulty was moving from a different country to a different league and language. His style was always to keep the qualities of the players and keep the ball.

"That helped us a lot. He understood what kind of players we were in Spain and what we could add to this team. It worked perfectly."

By the end of Bauza's first season in Swansea, the Spaniard had the chance to be the hero - scoring a brace against Gillingham to secure promotion from League One.

"Life sometimes gives you chances to do great things," he said.

"I remember the whole season. We had a few bad moments and they came towards the end.

"Some doubts were rising.

"I’d shown during the season I could do good things. It was my game, I was able to score two goals and everything changed.

"It’s difficult to remember details but you remember feelings. I have great pride in what we did."

His second season, Swansea's first in the Championship, went well. But his third would prove to be his last.

Injuries greatly hindered his progress and, when he was fit, he wasn't a part of new boss Paulo Sousa's plans.

"I had the chance to leave in January, but I thought Swansea were going to do great things that season so I stayed," he recalls.

"I thought I could get back into the team and help them at the end of the season. I told the manager that and decided to stay. It wasn’t the case.

"Obviously I don’t agree with his decisions. We missed out on the play-offs. I was expecting more of myself.

"I was not happy with how I performed or how the manager counted on me. Life goes on and I had to look forward."

And so, after three years in south Wales, Bauza made the hard decision to leave.

"I had made a good group of friends in the city. I was comfortable and had everything I needed. The football was good and I enjoyed it a lot," he added.

"But the manager did not have me in his plans so it was time to make a decision. I did not know Sousa wouldn’t last. Maybe that would have changed my mind.

"I was out of contract. I was 24, out of contract and at my best."

The question was where football would take Bauza next. Immediate options weren't exactly forthcoming as the "grey area" of football took over, with agents getting involved and Bauza requiring more surgery.

"The thing is, in football, you need to use your moment. I didn’t use my moment good enough when I had the chance," he said.

"I maybe didn’t take the best choice for my career. Normal players need to go by the interest of clubs and not their own interest.

"It’s not easy to make a club want you."

Then Hereford came in for him. The offer was simple. Turn up Friday, you'll play, simple. For Bauza, who was sick of football at this point, its simplicity was tempting.

Yet again though, managerial changes weren't kind to him. He was signed by Simon Davey, but it wouldn't be long before the Welshman was sacked and replaced by local favourite and club physio Jamie Pitman.

His spell at Edgar Street wouldn't last long. Stints with Northampton, Exeter, Port Talbot and Merthyr followed before Bauza hung up his boots.

However, the wheels were already in motion for his next career move.

After football won that initial tussle with medicine back in Majorca, the latter was now back in the picture following his departure from Swansea.

He had initially signed up for his medical genetics degree at Swansea University after he was released by the Swans in 2010 - combining his studies with playing for Hereford, Northampton and Exeter.

But after leaving Exeter, he decided to enrol full time. The balance between football and medicine had shifted.

"Until Exeter, my priority was football and everything else supported it. When I enrolled, it was time to do the best for my new life."

He graduated with first-class honours in 2015, before going on to earn his PhD.

"In a world where you only depend on yourself, it sometimes easier than playing football and relying on others," he said.

"You only depend on the time you spend in the books. I was very happy to get a first. I felt very proud of myself. This was personal satisfaction."

Bauza describes his PhD as one of "those great moments in life where luck and chance align". For starters, what he was studying, bone and cartilage regeneration, was personal to Bauza - given he had twice had knee surgery during his football career.

It also gave him the chance to spend two years in America, studying at the esteemed Texas Medical Center in Houston. There he would be working and meeting with doctors for some of Houston's biggest sporting teams, such as the Texans or Astros.

"That really was a big step. It was one of these opportunities you need to grab with both hands."

This summer should have seen Bauza graduate from Swansea and become a doctor in regenerative medicine. However, coronavirus has put paid to that.

Yet, much like his football career, Bauza isn't one for standing still. He's started a new life back in his old home.

Despite just graduating as a doctor, he's open to where his career will take him - both in terms of jobs and places to live.

"I have no restrictions in terms of geography but me and my wife decided to come back to Majorca. I am currently a medical research scientist and doing consultancy for physicians," he said.

"I am happy to have work and put my mind to a job that tests me. I am enjoying being with my family and friends and seeing the beautiful places I missed when I was abroad.

"I’m maybe shifting into dentistry. A lot of the doctors I’m working with are in that. It helps that my background is in bone regeneration so that lines up well.

"Many people ask me about Majorca being long-term that but I don’t see like that.

"Looking back at my last 20 years, every two years I’ve changed cities, places, lives. I was in Swansea finishing my degree for three years, then America for two years and now Majorca.

"I want to live in Majorca and see what I can do here.

"I’m not afraid to move. I would listen to anyone willing to work with me, be it projects in football or medicine.

"Time will say what happens with my life. I’m just happy doing something interesting with my life."

Bauza's worked hard to open up a number of doors. The question is now where he lets the path take him.

One thing is for certain, though.

"Swansea will never leave me. I loved living there," he says fondly.

"I will go back there very often. I’m very sure of that."