After a testing couple of years, former Argentina international Jonás Gutiérrez looks to put his battle with cancer and the poor treatment of former club Newcastle United behind him with a move to La Liga side Deportivo de La Coruña. The Spanish club have confirmed that a deal with Gutiérrez, a free agent since leaving Newcastle, has been agreed and all that is left is a medical which presumably the 32-year-old will fly to Spain to complete immediately.

Deportivo, after making an unbeaten start to the 2015/16 season announced on Tuesday: “Real Club Deportivo and Jonás Gutiérrez have reached an agreement for the player, currently a free agent, to join the club. The transfer is subject to the player passing a medical.

“The player is currently in Argentina and will travel in the next few days to A Coruña.”

At this point it is unclear exactly how long the contract agreed with Deportivo is but it would seem almost certain that the popular figure will continue his career back in Spain. When Gutiérrez originally left Argentina it was for Real Mallorca and eight years later, El Galgo will test himself once more in perhaps the strongest league in world football.

The transfer is still subject to a medical at present but Gutiérrez has always been an extremely fit professional and even after missing months of action with Newcastle due to undergoing his cancer treatment in Argentina, the 32-year-old ran the Buenos Aires marathon. After eight years of service in the Premier League, Gutiérrez returned to Buenos Aires to evaluate this options and has been training with former club, Vélez Sarsfield.

In addition to the Argentine clubs probably struggling to meet any financial demands, El Galgo showed enough in the final few months of the Premier League season to prove that he still has something to offer in Europe. During a tense relegation battle for Newcastle United, Gutiérrez made an almost miraculous return and capped off this fairytale return with a goal in the decisive final day victory over West Ham at St James’ Park.

After more than 200 appearances for Newcastle, the club treated him very poorly but he remains an iconic figure with the supporters in the North East. No one could possibly begrudge Gutiérrez a successful move.