Genius, enigma, oddball. Jason Koumas is a man remembered in strangely different ways.

For many who watched him play for Wales, Cardiff City and the other clubs he represented between 1997 and 2015, Koumas is arguably the most naturally gifted footballer they have ever seen.

For others, he was simply a monstrous waste of talent.

Despite 10 goals in 34 caps for Wales and nearly 100 Premier League appearances, some believe he should have enjoyed a career comparable to that of old friend and academy team-mate Steven Gerrard, who bid an emotional farewell to Liverpool with a Champions League medal on the shelf in 2015.

In contrast, Koumas' time as a professional football player ended at Tranmere Rovers as they slipped out of the Football League for the first time in 94 years.

Few fans of the clubs he played for will have anything other than good things to say about him. Yet his career throws up more than its fair share of unanswered questions, particularly because he completely disappeared from the public eye several years ago.

So what's happened to him? What exactly does he do now?

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We set about trying to find out...

The search begins

It soon becomes clear I'm not the only one looking for answers on Koumas' career.

"Let us know when you find him," a source at West Bromwich Albion tells me. It turns out they too are keen to track down one of their most beloved cult heroes, a player that was named by The Birmingham Mail as one of the Baggies' 20 best payers of the Noughties.

The newspaper have also had little luck in tracking him down since he left the game.

One of their journalists tells me: "Jason is impossible to get hold of.

"I've tried for years. And now, unfortunately, decided to give up.

"He won't do interviews."

The only real lead I have is an old address for an apartment block in Cardiff where Koumas used to live.

A rather confused concierge tells me they haven't had a footballer live in the building since Gary Medel, a former Cardiff City player from Chile, spent a solitary season at the club in 2014. He does claim to recognise Koumas by name, but it's clear he hasn't exactly left a lasting impression.

(Image: Unspecified)

The fan view

The next stop is to check in with Welsh football writer and blogger Leon Barton, who knows exactly what it's like to try and put the playmaker's career into words.

Barton's cousin actually played with Koumas, allowing him to pen a very well received feature for fansite Podcast Peldroed on what made the midfielder tick.

"The last thing I heard was he'd gone into the coaching set-up there [at Tranmere] and that really surprised me to be honest, because he'd previously just not played football for about two years. He hadn't said he was quitting or anything, he just didn't play and that points to someone who's not really in love with the game or particularly bothered by the game.

"He just happened to be very good at it and sort of took his talent for granted. It really surprised me to hear he was going to stay in the game in a professional capacity."

A source at Tranmere Rovers refutes the suggestion Koumas continued to be involved at the club, categorically denying he ever held any kind of coaching role, but Barton's scepticism around his passion for the game is an accusation that crops up time and time again.

An insider in the Wales camp under John Toshack paints a very similar picture.

"He was very much a different character to a lot of the boys we had," he explains.

"He was, in many ways, very much an outsider and I also remember him saying he looked upon football as a job rather than a love or a calling.

"Most of the guys who play football, whatever level they play at, they just absolutely love the game. They can't imagine doing anything else but I do remember with Jason it was a job of work.

"I never remember him being a really demonstrative sort of player. He wasn't someone who wore his heart on his sleeve by any means. He just got on with doing his job and he was probably, and this might be a bit cruel, the sort of player you'd expect far more from than what he actually delivered.

"When training was done that was it, he went back to his room and I remember he was also a very big fan of horseracing. He was interested in everything to do with it and I think that was probably his passion in life. I don't think football was necessarily a passion to him."

But even if he didn't enjoy football, there's little question fans enjoyed him.

Jason Koumas' career Club career: 1997 - 2002: Tranmere Rovers - (127 apps, 25 goals)

Tranmere Rovers - (127 apps, 25 goals) 2002 - 2007: West Bromwich Albion - (123 apps, 23 goals)

West Bromwich Albion - (123 apps, 23 goals) 2005 - 2006: Cardiff City (loan) - (44 apps, 12 goals)

Cardiff City (loan) - (44 apps, 12 goals) 2007 - 2011: Wigan Athletic - (54 apps, 2 goals)

Wigan Athletic - (54 apps, 2 goals) 2010 - 2011: Cardiff City (loan) - (23 apps, 2 goals)

Cardiff City (loan) - (23 apps, 2 goals) 2013 - 2015: Tranmere Rovers (51 apps, 4 goals) International career: 2001-2009: Wales (34 apps, 10 goals)

Jason Koumas' career in pictures

Jason Koumas career in pictures

Ben James of Cardiff City fanzine View from the Ninian remembers: "He was a YouTube footballer before YouTube existed. Everything he did belonged on a highlights reel.

"His first goal, buried into the bottom corner against Leeds, through to his free kick in the Cup a few days later and then everything that followed. He carried the ball in a unique way and I always remember thinking if he got the ball, he was going to do something.

"He was just different class. He just raised expectation when he got the ball."

What strikes me as interesting is that Ben, like many other fans, is well aware of Koumas' alleged shortcomings.

So why is he still so loved?

The answer is simple.

"It might sound like grandeur but why does everyone love Messi?" he explains. "Because he makes the ridiculous look easy. And that's what Koumas did - albeit, at a lower level. A free kick anywhere around the box and if he's stood over it, you can be confident it's going in.

"He could beat a man with ease, he could score from anywhere, spray passes 60 yards and land it on the foot of the recipient. Football is about the spectacular moments and seemingly everything he did was just that. He was one of a kind."

The fact Koumas was voted into Cardiff City's team of the century last year, which you can see here, says it all.

This video is helpful too.

Jason Koumas vs Doncaster

The captain's view

Former Cardiff captain Darren Purse was also dazzled by the brilliance of Koumas, even if he has no idea what became of his former team-mate.

"Technically he was one of the most gifted players I've ever played with," he explains. "He was one of those players where it would be 0-0 away from home and he'd come up with an 89th minute winner that nobody else in the side, or in the league, would be able to do.

"Being a defender, he'd turn you inside out at times. He was unplayable at times in training. He'd turn it on and be that sort of player that could put you on your bum and then put one in the top corner."

However, Purse believes Koumas' ability to conjure up something special managed to mask the big shortcomings that prevented him from reaching the level his talent deserved.

"I just respected him for the player he was and accepted the bad side of it because you knew how good it could be when he really turned it on," he adds.

"Jason was one of those frustrating players because with the ability he had he should've been playing at the highest level for a long period of time.

"But he never quite had that work ethic or mentality to make the best of what he had.

"Looking at myself, I used to love training every day. Koumy would see it as a bit of a chore, thinking 'do I really have to be here?' and that was part of his make-up.

Not only did Koumas seemingly struggle with keeping a focus in training, but Purse also believed he actually struggled with the baggage that came with being a professional footballer, revealing he would often withdraw himself from the limelight whenever possible.

"He didn't like mingling so when there were fans and things to do, he wasn't the sort of name you'd pick out to do it, because his heart wasn't really in it. That was him though.

"There are some people that don't like being in the public eye and don't enjoy being a footballer, but they've got that god-given talent that every player and every manager, every club wants in their side. I don't think he enjoyed the life of being a player but he was immensely talented at what he did.

"I don't think he enjoyed the fame side of football, I don't think he actually enjoyed playing it. Sometimes, when it becomes your job and you've been doing it since you were six, it can become a bit of a chore."

Interestingly, Purse claims that Koumas' perceived introverted personality meant that despite playing alongside him at two separate clubs, he never really got to know him.

"I don't really have any stories about Jason. He was a quiet guy. He didn't really socialise with players outside of football. He just kept himself to himself and he just enjoyed his own company I think."

The respect of a Wales team-mate

"If someone ever says a footballer's workrate or attitude isn't right, it just spreads like wildfire and then before you know it people judge you before they even know you. Everyone's quick to judge."

When Koumas signed for Wigan Athletic in 2007, a young David Cotterill was looking to make his own way in the game.

Cotterill, who recently announced his retirement after suffering depression, doesn't seem to recognise the Jason Koumas painted out by Purse, adding that questions over his mentality were often over-exaggerated.

He explains: "Jason never showed a bad attitude in training when I was with him.

"He always tried to help me, he was always very good with me. When he came to Wigan I was still a young lad and he was the main guy because of the money we spent on him and he was always great with me."

However, Cotterill also noticed the shy and reserved Koumas described by others.

"When we used to go away with Wales he liked a beer and we'd also go out and party after one of the games, but other than that there weren't really any stories.

"He'd keep himself to himself."

That phrase again.

The impression I get from what I've heard so far is Koumas actually had very few friends in football, with Cotterill another former colleague who hasn't kept in touch.

"I think he had his own mates outside of football really. He didn't really go out with team-mates very often and preferred hanging out with his friends," he says.

Not having ties within the game has undoubtedly helped Koumas stay off the radar, although Cotterill rightly reminds me Koumas doesn't have to justify his absence from the media spotlight to anyone.

"Just because you're a footballer doesn't mean you have to stay in the public eye."

The Instagram page

Perhaps what makes Koumas' ability to avoid the spotlight all the more impressive is the fact that even in the age of social media, he manages to give very little away.

A Twitter profile under this name hasn't been updated since 2011, while a Facebook page bearing his name lists his workplace as 'sex, sex and more sex'. It seems unlikely.

His Instagram page is predictably placed on a private setting, but a friend request sent in hope is surprisingly accepted. A response to a message asking for a chat is, however, unsurprisingly ignored.

A trawl through Koumas' Instagram page sees the same faces cropping up time and time again. As Cotterill suggested, it's obvious Jason has a strong, tightly-knit group of friends, but none of them appear to have much of a connection to football.

I send them all a message. No reply.

Despite those frustrations, Jason's Instagram shows he's still obsessed with the game, particularly his beloved Liverpool.

Not only is there a tribute post to his old pal Gerrard, there's also a post from 2015, shortly after Koumas announced his retirement, showing tickets for the Reds' trip to Old Trafford along with a comment voicing his frustration at Brendan Rodgers.

"F***ing Rodgers is doing my head in, he needs to go," he writes. Perhaps a little harsh on the former Swansea boss, but hardly indicative of someone with the passive interest in the game that some have portrayed.

I'm no closer to finding him, but at least now I have a small snapshot into what he's up to.

The agent

"If I'm being honest, I'd prefer all my players to be like Jason Koumas, to go and do their talking on the pitch rather than in the papers. I don't like to see players thinking they have to be in the press."

After a bit of digging, I manage to find a number for Jason's former agent, who's worked with him for around 20 years.

He confirms Koumas is still living in the Merseyside area and agrees with many of the assessments I've heard about his career, even admitting himself that "Jason perhaps struggled with the limelight". He categorically rejects any assertion Koumas didn't enjoy football though, believing his unwillingness to open up meant he was often misunderstood by critics.

"I think where a lot of people don't get Jason is how quiet he actually is," he explains.

"He's a really nice lad but a private lad too, and I think people mistake that for arrogance.

"He's very close to his family, he comes from a very closely-knit family, especially his brother and also his uncle, who essentially brought him up.

"So once training had finished or a game had finished, he couldn't wait to get back home and be with them and I think that perhaps rubbed people up the wrong way.

"But as a player some of the stuff he could do was magical, he just didn't like the circus that went round it."

It turns out he's still in touch with the man himself and gets Liverpool match tickets for him and his friends most weeks.

He reads out a number.

After weeks of digging and searching, I finally have a direct line to Jason Koumas.

The phone call

I dial the number and nervously wait. It's ringing.

First comes a pause, then the voice. Sure enough I'm speaking to the man himself.

"I'm just at a football tournament mate, can I call you back?" he says.

Football tournament? It turns out he's now spending a lot of his time coaching his two sons, both of whom are promising footballers.

One is even on the books of the Liverpool academy after signing on at the age of 11.

"They love football and Jason loves football", his agent tells me.

It sounds like a good arrangement for Koumas. Bestow all he knows on to his two sons and catch a Liverpool game at the weekend, all while staying out of the glare of the public eye.

I wait for Koumas to return my call that day.

He doesn't.

I give him another text just a few days later, he tells me that he's "down in London with the missus for a few days" and promises to drop me a line the following weekend.

He doesn't.

I go back to his former agent in the hope he can maybe give him a nudge, although he tells me I'd have to "catch him in the right mood" if he's ever going to talk to me properly.

He still sounds reasonably positive about a chat happening, even going so far as float the idea of a face-to-face meeting up at his Merseyside office.

Then, a couple of weeks and a few ignored texts and voicemail messages later, Koumas finally gets back to me.

It's not good news - for me anyway.

"Hi mate, sorry I'm away at the minute. I'm just too busy at the moment to do anything with being away so much with my lads etc.

"I have too much on, plus I like to keep my private life private if that's okay."

It sounds like a polite 'p*** off', which is fair enough really, although he doesn't exactly close the book on an interview completely.

"Get in touch after Christmas if you still want something doing and we'll sort," he says.

It's bitterly disappointing, but from what I've learned about Koumas, not at all surprising.

He's clearly a man who does things on his terms.

Perhaps that was why he did apparently find it so hard to cope with the limelight. After all, footballers are granted little to no control over what's being written about them, and many of the commitments off the pitch are not exactly voluntary.

But even if he did have trouble with it all, I don't really get the feeling he's left pondering on all the 'what ifs' that so many outsiders seem to so desperately want to attach to his career.

"Whatever people wrote about him was often water off a duck's back," his former agent adds. "I don't think he put pressure on himself or beat himself up.

"If he was slaughtered for having a bad game, or praised for a good game, he would treat both the same."

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Perhaps that's just it. Maybe, it all boils down to that one point. Maybe, even now at the age of 39, beneath the quiet and reserved exterior, Jason Koumas simply doesn't care what we think.