Jordi Amat, Between Optimism and Pessimism with Persija Jakarta

Persija Jakarta has formed the highest market value center-back duo in Liga 1 Indonesia 2025-2026 by recruiting Jordi Amat Maas. The 33-year-old player will partner with his compatriot in the Indonesian national team, who holds the captaincy of "Macan Kemayoran," Rizky Ridho.

In the last two seasons, Jordi has represented the Malaysian League champion club, Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT). Jordi contributed seven championship titles in the neighboring country. With JDT, he achieved his first league title during his professional career, which began in 2009.

Based on Transfermarkt data, Jordi is the player with the second highest market value in Liga 1 for the 2025-2026 season. Jordi's market value is estimated at IDR 11.3 billion. That figure is only second to Bali United's new winger, Thijmen Goppel, who is valued at IDR 12.17 billion.

Jordi will duet with Ridho, who is the most expensive local player in Liga 1. The market value of the 23-year-old defender is Rp 9.56 billion. The footballer from Surabaya, East Java, ranks fourth in the list of the most valuable footballers in the top-tier competition in Indonesia.

In total, Persija has the most expensive center-back duo with a combined market value of IDR 20.86 billion. The market value of the Jordi-Ridho pairing is significantly higher than that of the second most expensive center-back duo in Liga 1 2025-2026.

They are the new defensive duo of Persib Bandung, Patricio Matricardi and Julio Cesar, as well as PSM Makassar's defenders, Yuran Fernandes and Aloisio Neto, who each have an accumulated market value of IDR 11.3 billion.

This situation provides Persija Coach Mauricio Souza with important capital to build a squad aimed at competing for the Liga 1 championship title. Macan Kemayoran finished the last two seasons of Liga 1 in the middle of the standings.

They finished in eighth place in 2023-2024, then seventh place in 2024-2025. It has been five seasons since Persija last won a championship trophy, having been the champion of Liga 1 in 2018.

Jordi acknowledged that Liga 1 Indonesia will be very competitive. He is determined to bring the winning mentality he has developed through his long career in the Spanish League, English League, and Belgian League, up to competing in the Asian Champions League Elite.

"My goal is to bring a winning mentality to the team. I want to help the team win all the games. The support of the fans and the quality players that the club has, I hope I can make that happen," said Jordi in an interview with Persija TV.

Jordi has become an important addition to Persija's gameplay. Not only does he instill fear in the opposing forwards, but Jordi's experience also has the potential to make Persija's defense very solid.

The clean sheet rate of JDT during Jordi's appearance in 38 Malaysian League matches reached 55 percent. Meanwhile, Persija only managed to collect 18 percent of matches without conceding in the 2024-2025 Liga 1.

In addition, Souza can also shape Persija into a team that plays like modern football teams today by building attacks from the defensive line. Jordi has a record of successful passing accuracy reaching 93.5 percent over two seasons in the Malaysian League. This percentage underscores Jordi's significant playing quality in the Spanish football climate.

Amid the potential for added quality, Jordi, who has entered his thirties, is overshadowed by a decline in his physical condition. During two seasons representing JDT, he has faced several injuries that forced him to the sidelines.

This primarily occurred during the 2024-2025 season. Fitness issues, one of which was an ankle injury, caused Jordi to be unable to play for 77 days.

He missed at least 11 matches. This number does not include the times he was only on the bench when his fitness level was not at its best.

In total, during his last season with JDT, Jordi only played 25 times out of the 47 matches that the team nicknamed "Macan Selatan" participated in. This number of matches represents a significant decrease compared to the 37 matches he played during the 2023-2024 competition campaign.

In addition to observing the declining quantity of matches, the average playing time of Jordi has also decreased over two seasons representing JDT. He recorded an average of 88 minutes per game in the 2023-2024 season. However, Jordi only played an average of 74 minutes per match in his final season wearing the JDT jersey.

With a historical record of physical condition that has tended to decline in the last two seasons, Persija must carefully consider the condition and playing time of Jordi. Jordi's work ethic and strong commitment to maintaining his fitness are beyond doubt.

However, age cannot be fought. Jordi's metabolism is not as good as it was when he was in his 20s.

Macan Kemayoran is certainly not as busy as JDT, which competes in five tournaments and plays more than 45 matches each season. Persija will only compete in Liga 1. Nevertheless, the geographical distance between matches that will be far apart will affect the condition of the players.

The exhausting away trip to the home ground of Malut United in Ternate, North Maluku, as well as the headquarters of PSM Makassar in Parepare, South Sulawesi, will be the longest away match experience in the domestic competition for the players graduated from the Espanyol academy.

Regardless of the conditions that Jordi will experience in his debut season in Liga 1, the national competition will welcome one of the best center-backs in Asia today. Young Indonesian defenders can learn a great deal from Jordi.

Welcome to the competition of your ancestral land, prince!