Gonzalo Villar
Personal information
Full name Gonzalo Villar del Fraile
Date of birth (1998-03-23) 23 March 1998 (age 25)
Place of birth Murcia, Spain
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Granada
Number 24
Youth career
2009–2015 Elche
2015–2017 Valencia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 Elche B 3 (0)
2016–2018 Valencia B 32 (2)
2018–2020 Elche 35 (1)
2020–2023 Roma 42 (0)
2022 → Getafe (loan) 10 (0)
2022–2023 → Sampdoria (loan) 15 (0)
2023 → Getafe (loan) 16 (0)
2023– Granada 13 (1)
International career‡
2016 Spain U19 2 (0)
2019–2021 Spain U21 10 (1)
2021 Spain 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 November 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 June 2021

Gonzalo Villar del Fraile (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡonˈθalo βiˈʎaɾ]; born 23 March 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club Granada.

Club career

Early career

Villar was born in Murcia, and represented Elche CF as a youth. On 4 January 2015, aged just 16, he made his senior debut with the reserves by coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–3 Segunda División B home loss against UE Sant Andreu.[2]

On 28 August 2015 Villar joined Valencia CF for a fee of € 175,000, and returned to youth football.[3] Promoted to the B-team ahead of the 2017–18 season, he was a first-choice in Lubo Penev's side,[4] scoring his first senior goal on 26 August 2017 in a 4–1 home routing of CF Peralada-Girona B.

Elche

On 9 July 2018, Villar returned to Elche, being assigned to the main squad in Segunda División;[5] Valencia retained 80% of his future transfer.[6] He made his professional debut on 18 August, starting in a 0–0 home draw against Granada CF.[7]

Villar scored his first professional goal on 24 November 2019, netting his team's third in a 3–3 away draw against Málaga CF.[8]

Roma

On 29 January 2020, Villar moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with AS Roma. Roma paid an initial fee of €4 million for his transfer, with potential extra €1 million due based on performance.[9] He made his Serie A debut on 15 February, replacing Diego Perotti in a 1–2 away loss at Atalanta BC.[10]

Loan to Getafe

On 13 January 2022, Villar returned to his home country after agreeing to a loan deal with La Liga side Getafe CF until the end of the season.[11]

Loan to Sampdoria

On 8 August 2022, Villar joined Sampdoria on a season-long loan with an option to buy.[12]

Second loan to Getafe

On 13 January 2023, Villar returned to Getafe on a season-long loan with the option to make the deal permanent, which becomes an obligation if certain conditions are met.[13]

Granada

On 4 August 2023, Villar signed a contract with Granada CF, newly-promoted to the top tier.[14]

International career

Due to the isolation of some national team players following the positive COVID-19 test of Sergio Busquets, Spain's under-21 squad were called up for the international friendly against Lithuania on 8 June 2021.[15] Villar made his senior debut in the match as Spain won 4–0.[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 24 November 2023[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Elche B 2014–15 Segunda División B 3 0 — — 3 0
Valencia B 2015–16 Segunda División B 0 0 — — 0 0
2016–17 Segunda División B 1 0 — — 1 0
2017–18 Segunda División B 31 2 — — 31 2
Total 32 2 — — 32 2
Elche 2018–19 Segunda División 15 0 2 1 — 17 1
2019–20 Segunda División 20 1 2 0 — 22 1
Total 35 1 4 1 — 39 2
Roma 2019–20 Serie A 9 0 0 0 2 0 11 0
2020–21 Serie A 33 0 1 0 13 0 47 0
2021–22 Serie A 0 0 0 0 6 0 6 0
Total 42 0 1 0 21 0 64 0
Getafe (loan) 2021–22 La Liga 10 0 — — 10 0
Sampdoria (loan) 2022–23 Serie A 15 0 1 0 — 16 0
Getafe (loan) 2022–23 La Liga 16 0 — — 16 0
Granada 2023–24 La Liga 13 1 1 0 – 14 1
Career total 166 4 7 1 21 0 194 5

International

As of match played 8 June 2021
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Spain 2021 1 0
Total 1 0

References

  1. ^ "Gonzalo Villar". U.C. Sampdoria. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  2. ^ "El filial cae en el Narcís Sala (3–0)" [The reserve team stumble at the Narcís Sala (3–0)] (in Spanish). Elche CF. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  3. ^ "El juvenil Gonzalo Villar se marcha traspasado al Valencia" [Youth player Gonzalo Villar goes out transferred to Valencia] (in Spanish). Tele Elx. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Sensación Gonzalo Villar" (in Spanish). Las Provincias. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  5. ^ "OFICIAL | Gonzalo Villar regresa al Elche C.F." [OFFICIAL | Gonzalo Villar returns to Elche C.F.] (in Spanish). Elche CF. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  6. ^ "COMUNICADO OFICIAL" [OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT] (in Spanish). Valencia CF. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Elche y Granada se presentan con la pólvora mojada" [Elche and Granada present themselves with a wet powder] (in Spanish). Marca. 18 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Homenaje de goles sin premio" [Goal honour without prize] (in Spanish). Marca. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Roma complete signing of Gonzalo Villar" (Press release). AS Roma. 29 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Atalanta 2–1 Roma". Football Italia. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Comunicado Oficial /Borja Mayoral y Gonzalo Villar" [Official announcement /Borja Mayoral and Gonzalo Villar] (in Spanish). Getafe CF. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Gonzalo Villar joins Sampdoria on loan". AS Roma. 8 August 2022.
  13. ^ "Gonzalo Villar joins Getafe on initial loan move". AS Roma. 13 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Comunicado Oficial | Gonzalo Villar, nuevo jugador del Granada CF" [Official announcement | Gonzalo Villar, new player of Granada CF] (in Spanish). Granada CF. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  15. ^ "Oficial | Lista de convocados para el encuentro ante Lituania" [Official | Squad list for the match against Lithuania]. Royal Spanish Football Federation (in Spanish). 6 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Spain youngsters impress in Lithuania rout". MARCA. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Gonzalo Villar". SofaScore. Retrieved 2 October 2019.

External links

Granada CF – current squad
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