My Spanish armada! Michu makes Wembley showpiece a family affair

SWANDERFUL ... Michu has been a revelation this season at the Liberty Stadium

MICHU has his very own Spanish Armada arriving to see his big moment at Wembley today.

Swansea’s striker quickly snapped up 24 tickets for his family and friends to watch the Capital One Cup final — and he wanted even more!

His fan club will be led by his devoted dad Jose Luis who makes the journey over from Oviedo to watch the 18-goal forward for virtually every game.

Now Michu, who signed from Rayo Vallecano in July, hopes he can make it a day to remember for them by lifting one of the major trophies in English football... just like his heroes Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry did.

The £2million bargain-buy said: “I have a lot of family coming over. Each player got four free tickets after the semi-final.

“We then had the option to buy 20 tickets — so I bought 20! I don’t know if that was enough for my family and friends. Maybe not.

“But a lot of my friends and family from Spain are going to Wembley. It’s my first final and maybe my first title in my career.

“It will be good for me to see so many of the people close to me at the final. So I hope the tickets in the stadium are good for them.

“I’ve had to work really hard to get to a final. My family have always been next to me in the good and bad moments. So they deserve this.”

Nobody has been more devoted than Jose Luis who spent much of his spare time helping his young son make his way in the game.

Michu, 26, said: “My father always took me to games when I was smaller. He’d take me to Swansea, then Russia or Dubai the next day. He’s really crazy.

“He works in Oviedo in the city and then travels to the UK at the weekends, He goes to almost every game. He has only missed one or two — midweek ones.

“But he was at Stamford Bridge for the semi-final and that was midweek. He’s always in the stadium and that is good for me. He’s my No 1 fan.”

Michu arrived at Swansea with a dream of playing in a major final and could not have imagined it would come so quickly.

He would not have expected it to be against Bradford either. And he admits he had never even heard of the Bantams when he began his career in England.

The Spaniard said: “I only really heard of them when they beat Wigan and got in the quarter-finals.

“But I’ve seen a lot of Bradford’s matches in the Capital One now — when they beat Arsenal and then Aston Villa — so we know it’s going to be difficult.

“I arrived in the UK with a dream to play in one final and to go into Europe so I hope we can do it on Sunday.

“It was not easy for us to reach the final. We had to beat Liverpool away, we needed to beat Chelsea in two legs. OK, now we are favourites because Bradford are not in the Premier League but if we can do it will have been a really good year for us.”

Michu first became interested in English football by watching the likes of Henry and Bergkamp on the TV back at home in Spain.

Now he hopes to emulate the two Arsenal legends by enjoying some cup final glory of his own.

He recalled: “When I was young my team in the UK was always Arsenal. They had really good players — Bergkamp and Henry and they played really good football.

“Both of them were my favourites. They had so much quality, they won a lot of trophies.

“I remember Bergkamp’s goal against Newcastle when he turned the defender and scored. It was a great goal.

“And Henry played for Barcelona after Arsenal. My first team in Spain is Oviedo, but my second is Barcelona because of the style of football.

“I used to try and practice like Bergkamp and Henry when I was younger.

“There are not many people who can do what they did.”

A big performance at Wembley would enhance Michu’s growing reputation still further and Swansea are braced for big offers at the end of the season.

And while he admits the Welsh club may struggle to top their achievements of this term, he says he is not planning to leave the Liberty any time soon after signing a new deal only last month.

He said: “All players want to get to the very top. But I am really happy at Swansea. I am not thinking about next year or big clubs.

“It’s good when your name is mentioned alongside big clubs, but I’m living a dream in Swansea. My first year in the UK has been really good.

“I’m really enjoying the Premier League and I hope to stay here for a long time.”