It is not just any normal club and it has a peculiarity that is worth noting: its regent is Tunku Ismail Ibrahim, son of the current king of Malaysia, after whom the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium is named. Johor, a prosperous state in the south of the country, is connected to Singapore by elevated roads and boasts a handful of paradise beaches.
Ismail Ibrahim has long been linked to Valencia - he has a relationship with Peter Lim himself - and is a big football fan, but that is far from his only hobby: he also has a large fleet of luxury cars, his other passion. Ford GT, Bentley Continental Convertible, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, Mercedes G63 AMG are some of the models that can be found in his garage (or almost dealership), where it is estimated that he even owns more than 300 units.
On the sporting side, Johor DT have won the league title 11 times in a row. Moreover, they have already qualified for the final of the cup competition (they will face Sri Pahang) and can achieve the double. The Asian Champions League, their main and most ambitious objective, is no longer achievable this season due to their elimination by Buriram (Thailand).
13 Spaniards in the squad
Around half of the squad, 13 players to be precise, are of Spanish nationality. There is a key factor for that is the sporting director, Kiko Insa, an Alicante native who played for Elche and Cartagena during his playing days. And in the dugout, another Spanish speaker - Argentine Hector Bidoglio, while the new CEO of the club (from April 1st) will be Luis Garcia, who has had spells with Liverpool, Atletico de Madrid and Barcelona.
The main protagonists of this story are: Jese Rodriguez, Jonathan Viera, Roque Mesa, Alvaro Gonzalez, Natxo Insa (brother of the aforementioned Kiko), Andoni Zubiaurre, Jordi Amat, Christian Abad, Eddy Silvestre, Iker Undabarrena, Juan Muniz, Oscar Arribas and Samu Castillejo. The latter was the last to join a project that is certainly a curious adventure.
The most well-known name of all is that of Jese, who was barely able to get back on his feet after that fateful injury at the Santiago Bernabeu. Even so, he then left for Paris Saint-Germain, where he failed to live up to expectations, and tried to get back to his best in, among other places, his native Las Palmas. Viera and Roque, of course, are also two old acquaintances on the island and, along with Castillejo, boast the most impressive CVs.
What it is like on the inside
Former Real Sociedad man, Zubiaurre, who recently spoke to Flashscore about his experience in Malaysia, considers both the facilities and the day-to-day life to be "like a professional team in Spain". Insa's arrival in Elda as a result of another deal between the two sides was key: "He found out I was looking for a way out, he saw the profile, it fitted, and so did I, and what they proposed to me convinced me. That's a bit of a simplified story.
"Among ourselves, obviously, we speak Spanish; then it's true that there are several Brazilians and some Colombians who, well, we understand each other perfectly well in Spanish. And then with the locals, there are some Australians too, so we speak English. And it is true that the level of English here is very internalised, they speak it perfectly, so there is no communication problem," explains Andoni.
As for the culture shock with Spain, the goalkeeper sees it as follows: "At the end of the day it's still a Muslim country that has its customs, they are very believing and they always carry it out very well.
"There are certain times when they stop training for certain prayers and in the league they stop the match as well; yes, they tend to be short prayers, but during the day, before training, there are always plenty of places where they can stop to pray and they follow it very strictly.
"But then on a day-to-day basis, there is a lot of diversity of cultures, so to speak. There is also a lot of Chinese, Japanese, Indian... there is a lot of mixing, also culinary.
"You find a lot of different types of restaurants, but for everyday life, it's a very easy and peaceful place to live. You don't find anything strange where you say, 'f*ck it, either I adapt or I adapt', you have options for everything and it's very easy," says the player from Guipuzcoa.