Alejandro “Jano” Monserrate Pueyo was born on 28 January 2006 in Zaragoza, a city where football is woven deeply into local identity. Raised in the shadow of La Romareda, his relationship with the ball began early, shaped by street football and long afternoons in local parks before he ever pulled on an academy shirt. From the outset, there was a natural elegance to his game – a left foot that seemed to slow play down, a habit of seeing passes others didn’t, and a calmness that set him apart from boys far older than himself.

That calm quickly earned him a place in the Real Zaragoza academy, one of Spain’s most respected development environments. Coaches spoke of his intelligence as much as his technique. Jano was never the loudest or the fastest, but he read the game beautifully, drifting between lines and dictating rhythm. At just 16, he made his debut for Zaragoza’s second team, an early promotion that confirmed his status as one of the brightest midfield talents to come through the club in years. By the time he reached late adolescence, his name was circulating well beyond Aragón, linked – as seen with the news article, left – with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Roma, a reflection of how highly his potential was rated across Europe.

In 2024, opportunity came knocking from Madrid. Atlético Madrid secured his signature for a fee of around €500,000, a significant investment for a player so young and untested at senior level. The move represented both a dream and a gamble. Atlético offered elite standards, tactical schooling and daily competition at the highest level, but it was also a club where minutes were hard-earned and patience often runs thin. Jano adapted professionally, impressing within the club structure, yet the pathway to the first team never fully opened.

Instead, his career settled into the demanding reality of Spain’s third tier with Atlético Madrid B. Season after season, he became a central figure – not the star name once touted in headlines, but a dependable creative force. His final campaign there was perhaps the clearest reflection of his qualities: eight goals, 72 key passes, and involvement in 22 wins from 35 matches. He orchestrated play, linked midfield to attack, and carried responsibility in a side built more for development than glory. Still, the elusive first-team appearance never came.

By the time his contract expired, Jano was 27 years old, released on a free transfer and, remarkably, without a single top-flight appearance to his name. Eight months passed without a club – a period of reflection as much as frustration. For a player once labelled a prodigy, it was a humbling chapter, but also one that hardened his resolve. Football, he knew, owed him nothing.

His next step now comes not with fanfare, but with meaning. In February 2033, FC Chur moved decisively to secure his signature. The Swiss club’s Spanish connections – particularly through manager Iñaki Arriola – proved crucial, offering Jano not just a contract, but a clear role and a sense of trust. It was a move defined less by prestige and more by alignment: a team that values intelligence, positional awareness and collective structure, and a player shaped by years of tactical discipline. His performances, when compared with Andrea Favara, the club favourite and Graubunden born winger, show that he’s not quite performing at the level that would immediately make him, and maybe based on his history, a key player, yet, but it does show the kind of player he is – an unlocker. A creative catalyst.

At Chur, Monserrate arrives not as a wonderkid, but as a footballer in his prime – seasoned, reflective, and motivated. His journey is one that defies the usual narrative arc, a reminder that development is rarely linear and that careers are often defined as much by resilience as by early promise. For Jano, the story is no longer about what never happened in Spain, but about what still can – a second act built on experience, patience, and the quiet confidence of a player who has learned the long way around.

What that now does is to create a hugely potent five man pool for Chur’s attacking midfielders:

What Arriola has done is to create a mix – creativity, verticality, skill, an eye for goal and meshed that together in a group of five players of peak age: 23, 21, 23, 25 and 27. This combination, any three from five depending on the opposition, is sure to frighten defences.

Jano’s arrival might come too late this year to see them push on and challenge for promotion but, keep this forward line together and I’m sure good things will happen…