Jackson Martínez returns to Independiente Medellín six years after retiring

Six years without stepping onto a professional field and yet here he is again, ready to lace up his gloves, sorry, his boots, with the club that watched him grow up. Jackson Martínez is back at Independiente Medellín, the club that launched him into the elite and with which he now, at 39 years old, has signed a return that seemed unthinkable not long ago.

The forward from Chocó retired in 2020 while playing for Portimonense in Portugal, worn down by a string of injuries that gradually took a toll on his legs until he was forced to hang up his boots. He had not played an official match since. But something changed in recent months: his name started buzzing again after a few appearances in legends matches, including one against former Porto players, where he showed that scoring goals still comes as naturally to him as ever.

That spark was enough to reignite a conversation that had already been tried before in Medellín. In fact, this is not the first time Jackson has knocked on the door of El Poderoso: on another occasion he even trained with the squad in search of a deal that ultimately fell through. This time it came together, and the club officially confirmed him as its new forward.

According to the club, the contract will run through December initially, with the possibility of an extension "in accordance with the conditions agreed upon by the parties." A cautious approach for a player who has gone half a decade without competing and who is still managing physical issues, including an ankle that the club's medical staff will need to monitor closely before any serious minutes are considered.

An idol comes home

To understand what this return means, you have to go back to 2009, when Jackson was a key piece in Medellín's title run and ended up as the top scorer in Colombian soccer that season. That version of Jackson, the one who later made the jump to Portugal, then to Spain with Atlético de Madrid and later to China, left an indelible mark on the red and green faithful. In total, he played 171 matches and scored 56 goals for El Poderoso, numbers that explain why his name never stopped being beloved in Antioquia.

He now joins a squad led by Luis Amaranto Perea, another club legend, currently sitting third in the Colombian league. The question that remains is how much competitive soccer his body can still give after so much time out of action. The club knows he is not arriving to be an immediate starter, but rather to add experience, scoring instinct in the box and, above all, the kind of affection only an idol can bring to a locker room.

Time will tell how he trains, how his ankle responds and how his competitive rhythm develops. But for now, in Medellín they are already smiling: the top scorer of 2009 is putting the jersey back on, the one that made him shine in the first place.