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Jonny
Jonny playing for Celta in 2017
Personal information
Full name Jonathan Castro Otto[1]
Date of birth (1994-03-03) 3 March 1994 (age 29)[2]
Place of birth Vigo, Spain[2]
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Full-back
Team information
Current team
 PAOK
Number 19
Youth career
Celta
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Celta B 23 (0)
2012–2018 Celta 183 (3)
2018–2019 Atlético Madrid 0 (0)
2018–2019 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 20 (1)
2019–2024 Wolverhampton Wanderers 87 (5)
2024– PAOK 0 (0)
International career
2012 Spain U18 2 (0)
2012 Spain U19 10 (0)
2013 Spain U20 4 (0)
2014–2017 Spain U21 18 (0)
2018 Spain 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:15, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

Jonathan Castro Otto (born 3 March 1994), commonly known as Jonny, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right or left-back for Super League Greece club PAOK.

He began his career with Celta, making his debut with the first team at the age of 18 and going on to appear in 221 matches in all competitions.[3] In 2018 he signed with Wolverhampton Wanderers, initially on loan.

Jonny made his senior debut for Spain in 2018.

Club career

Celta

Born in Vigo, Galicia, Jonny played youth football with his hometown club RC Celta de Vigo.[4] He spent his first season as a senior with the reserves in the Segunda División B, featuring regularly but suffering relegation.[5]

Jonny made his La Liga debut for the main squad on 1 September 2012, starting in a 2–0 home win against CA Osasuna.[6] On 5 November, he renewed his contract with until 2017.[7]

Jonny was definitively promoted to the first team at the start of 2013–14 after the arrival of Luis Enrique as coach, and appeared in 26 matches during that campaign. On 19 January 2015, he further extended his link until 2019.[8]

Jonny scored his first professional goal on 20 February 2016, the second in a 3–2 home victory over SD Eibar.[9] He finished the season with 36 league appearances, helping the side to finish sixth and qualify for the UEFA Europa League.[10]

On 18 January 2017, Jonny scored the 2–1 winner away against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey (eventual 4–3 aggregate triumph).[11]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 25 July 2018, Jonny joined Atlético Madrid for an undisclosed fee, signing a six-year contract but moving immediately to English club Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan.[12] His maiden appearance in the Premier League took place on 11 August, when he played the entire 2–2 home draw against Everton.[13]

Jonny scored his first league goal on 29 September 2018, in a 2–0 home win over Southampton.[14] On 18 November, he suffered a knee ligament injury while playing for Spain, being initially sidelined until the end of the year[15] but recovering a few weeks later.[16]

Having been a regular first-team player during the first half of the campaign, Jonny agreed to a permanent four-and-a-half-year deal at Molineux on 31 January 2019 for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £15 million.[17] In August 2020, during a Europa League tie against Olympiacos FC, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury that sidelined him for six months.[18]

Jonny returned to action on 7 February 2021, playing the first half of the 0–0 league draw against Leicester City.[19] He signed a new contract shortly after, until 2025.[20]

On 4 April 2021, Jonny suffered another serious ACL injury to the same knee while training for the upcoming fixture against West Ham United, which ruled him out for the rest of that season and the bulk of the following one.[21] He made his return on 24 February 2022, as a second-half substitute in a Premier League game at Arsenal.[22]

Jonny marked his 100th competitive appearance for Wolves on 18 March 2022 by scoring the first goal in the 3–2 home loss to Leeds United, his first goal since July 2020.[23] He repeated the feat in the subsequent match, a 2–1 home defeat of local rivals Aston Villa.[24]

On 31 March 2023, Jonny was awarded with the Premier League Goal of the Month, courtesy of his 41-yard shot in the 4–2 home loss to Leeds thirteen days earlier.[25] This also represented the first occasion a club player had won the accolade since its creation in 2016.

Despite being placed on the transfer list at the beginning of the 2023–24 season, Jonny rejected offers to return to Spain; he then informed his team's hierarchy that he wanted to 'fight for his place.'[26] However, having made only three appearances up until that point, on 4 December it was revealed that the week before a match against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, he was excluded from the squad after swinging an elbow at under-21 player Tawanda Chirewa and spitting at coaching staff during a training session.[27][28] Four days later, sporting director Matt Hobbs announced that the player would not train with the main squad until the end of January,[29] while manager Gary O'Neil said that he could eventually make his return in case he was not transferred during the winter transfer window;[30] however, after five and a half years at Wolverhampton, on 26 January 2024 his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.[31]

PAOK

On 29 January 2024, Jonny signed a one-and-a-half-year deal with Super League Greece club PAOK FC.[32]

International career

After playing for Spain at under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels, Jonny was called up to the full side on 26 May 2015, for a friendly with Costa Rica and a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Belarus.[33] He did not take part in any of those matches, however.

Jonny won his first cap for his country on 11 October 2018, contributing to a 4–1 friendly defeat of Wales at the Millennium Stadium after replacing César Azpilicueta in the 63rd minute.[34]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 30 September 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Celta B 2011–12[35] Segunda División B 23 0 — — — 23 0
Celta 2012–13[35] La Liga 19 0 1 0 — — 20 0
2013–14[35] 26 0 2 0 — — 28 0
2014–15[35] 36 0 3 0 — — 39 0
2015–16[35] 36 1 8 1 — — 44 2
2016–17[35] 30 0 8 1 — 12[a] 0 50 1
2017–18[35] 36 2 4 0 — — 40 2
Total 183 3 26 2 — 12 0 221 5
Atlético Madrid 2018–19 La Liga 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2018–19[36] Premier League 33 1 5 0 1 0 — 39 1
2019–20[37] 35 2 2 0 0 0 11[a] 0 48 2
2020–21[38] 7 0 1 0 0 0 — 8 0
2021–22[39] 13 2 0 0 0 0 — 13 2
2022–23[40] 18 1 2 0 3 0 — 23 1
2023–24[41] 1 0 0 0 2 0 — 3 0
Total 107 6 10 0 6 0 11 0 134 6
Career total 313 8 36 2 6 0 23 0 378 10
  1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[42]
National team Year Apps Goals
Spain 2018 3 0
Total 3 0

Honours

Spain U19

Spain U21

Individual

References

  1. ^ "2018/19 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Jonny Castro". Eurosport. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  3. ^ Bravo, Alberto (25 July 2018). "Adiós al hombre que pudo batir todos los récords" [Farewell to the man who could have broken every record] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Los contados casos de canteranos del Celta que triunfan fuera" [The rare cases of Celta youth players that make it big abroad]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 23 June 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  5. ^ "El Celta renueva a Pichi Lucas" [Celta renew Pichi Lucas]. Faro de Vigo (in Spanish). 20 June 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  6. ^ "First win for Celta". ESPN FC. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Borja Oubiña renueva y Túñez y Jonny amplían su contrato" [Borja Oubiña renews and Túñez and Jonny extend their contracts]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 5 November 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  8. ^ "El canterano Jonny Castro, celeste hasta 2019" [Youth player Jonny Castro, sky blue until 2019] (in Spanish). Celta Vigo. 19 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  9. ^ "El Eibar pierde el duelo por Europa ante el Celta" [Eibar lose duel for Europe against Celta] (in Spanish). EITB. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  10. ^ Bravo, Alberto (12 December 2016). "Jonny llega a los 150 partidos oficiales" [Jonny reaches 150 official matches] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Real Madrid 1–2 Celta Vigo". BBC Sport. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Agreement with Celta de Vigo over the transfer of Jonny". Atlético Madrid. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  13. ^ Hafez, Shamoon (11 August 2018). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–2 Everton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  14. ^ Poole, Harry (29 September 2018). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–0 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  15. ^ Spiers, Tim (19 November 2018). "Wolves' Jonny Castro Otto sidelined for up to six weeks". Express & Star. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  16. ^ Edwards, Joe (17 December 2018). "Nuno delighted with Jonny Castro Otto's swift Wolves recovery". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  17. ^ Stone, Simon (31 January 2019). "Jonny Castro Otto: Wolves complete £15m deal with Atletico Madrid". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  18. ^ "Jonny: Wolves defender to miss Europa League with serious knee injury". BBC Sport. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  19. ^ Hafez, Shamoon (7 February 2021). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 0–0 Leicester City: Foxes' title hopes suffer blow". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  20. ^ "Jonny commits future to Wolves". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  21. ^ "Jonny Otto: Wolves defender out for season after suffering ACL injury". Sky Sports. 5 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  22. ^ Sutcliffe, Steve (24 February 2022). "Arsenal 2–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Late own goal from visiting goalkeeper Jose Sa gives hosts dramatic win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  23. ^ Stone, Simon (18 March 2022). "Wolves 2–3 Leeds: Visitors fight back against 10 men to earn bruising win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  24. ^ Emons, Michael (2 April 2022). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–1 Aston Villa: Steven Gerrard unhappy as Wolves boost European hopes". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  25. ^ "Jonny wins Premier League award". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  26. ^ Keen, Liam (1 September 2023). "Jonny Castro Otto to stay at Wolves and fight for place". Express & Star. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  27. ^ "Jonny Otto: Wolves defender unavailable following 'training ground incident'". BBC Sport. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  28. ^ Madeley, Steve (12 December 2023). "Jonny exiled by Wolves after aiming elbow at youth-team player, spitting at staff member". The Athletic. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  29. ^ "Hobbs | Decision made on Jonny". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  30. ^ Stone, Simon (19 January 2024). "Jonny Otto: Wolves defender could play for club again if he stays beyond January, says Gary O'Neil". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  31. ^ "Jonny makes Wolves departure". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  32. ^ "Jonny joins PAOK". PAOK FC. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  33. ^ "Jonny y Nolito representan al Celta en la Selección Española" [Jonny and Nolito represent Celta at the Spanish national team] (in Spanish). Celta Vigo. 26 May 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  34. ^ "Paco Alcacer scores twice as dominant Spain demolish Wales in Cardiff". ESPN. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  35. ^ a b c d e f g Jonny at Soccerway
  36. ^ "Games played by Jonny in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  37. ^ "Games played by Jonny in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  38. ^ "Games played by Jonny in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  39. ^ "Games played by Jonny in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  40. ^ "Games played by Jonny in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  41. ^ "Games played by Jonny in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  42. ^ "Jonny Castro". European Football. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  43. ^ "Spain make it six of the best in Estonia". UEFA. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  44. ^ "Germany U21 1–0 Spain U21". BBC Sport. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  45. ^ "Jonny volley voted Budweiser Goal of the Month". Premier League. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.

External links

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