Denis Suárez

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Suárez and the second or maternal family name is Fernández.

Denis Suárez Fernández (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdenis ˈswaɾeθ feɾˈnandeθ]; born 6 January 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Villarreal.

Denis Suárez

Suárez with Villarreal in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Denis Suárez Fernández[1]
Date of birth	(1994-01-06) 6 January 1994 (age 30)[2]
Place of birth	Salceda de Caselas, Spain
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Villarreal
Number	6
Youth career
2008–2009	Porriño Industrial
2009–2010	Celta
2011–2013	Manchester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2011	Celta B	15	(0)
2011–2013	Manchester City	0	(0)
2013–2015	Barcelona B	36	(7)
2014–2015	→ Sevilla (loan)	31	(2)
2015–2016	Villarreal	33	(4)
2016–2019	Barcelona	46	(3)
2019	→ Arsenal (loan)	4	(0)
2019–2023	Celta	99	(5)
2023	→ Espanyol (loan)	18	(0)
2023–	Villarreal	4	(0)
International career‡
2010–2011	Spain U17	8	(2)
2012	Spain U18	2	(1)
2012	Spain U19	8	(3)
2013	Spain U20	7	(0)
2014–2017	Spain U21	21	(4)
2016	Spain	1	(0)
2016	Galicia	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 September 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 June 2017

Club career

Early years

Born in Salceda de Caselas, Pontevedra, Galicia, Suárez played youth football in his home country for Porriño Industrial and Celta Vigo.^{[citation needed]}

Manchester City

Suárez signed for Manchester City on 23 May 2011. Manchester City beat off interest from Barcelona, Chelsea and rivals Manchester United signing him for an initial fee of £900,000.^[4]

Suárez played in the 2011–12 pre-season friendly match against Los Angeles Galaxy, replacing Edin Džeko in 88th minute. He also converted a penalty in the penalty shootout in the same game. He was an unused substitute in the League Cup game against Birmingham City. In the next round of the League Cup, he made his competitive debut for the club when he replaced Samir Nasri in the 67th minute in the 5–2 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. On 17 May 2012, Suárez starred for Manchester City reserves against Manchester United reserves in Manchester Senior Cup, although Manchester City lost 0–2.^[5] In 2012, he was awarded Manchester City's Young Player of the Year as voted for by the fans.^{[citation needed][6]}

Barcelona

On 22 August 2013, Suárez completed a transfer to Barcelona for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract. During the 2013–14 season he played mostly for Barcelona B in the Spanish Segunda División to continue his development.^[7]

Sevilla (loan)

Suárez with Sevilla in April 2015

In July 2014, Suárez was loaned to Sevilla for two seasons as part of the deal which saw Ivan Rakitić move to Barcelona. He made his competitive debut on 12 August in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup at Cardiff City Stadium, playing 78 minutes before being substituted for José Antonio Reyes in the 0–2 defeat to Real Madrid.^[8] On 11 December, he scored the only goal of Sevilla's final Europa League group match against HNK Rijeka, sending the club through at the expense of their Croatian opponents.^[9]

Villarreal

On 29 August 2015, Suárez completed a transfer to Villarreal for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract which includes a buy back clause.^[10]

Return to Barcelona

On 4 July 2016, Barcelona announced the return of Suárez after exercising the buy back clause. Barcelona paid €3.5 million and Suárez signed a four-year contract, with an option of a further year depending on the number of appearances.^[11][12] In his first season, Suárez managed only 12 La Liga starts.^[13]

Arsenal (loan)

On 30 January 2019, Arsenal signed Suárez on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season.^[14][15]

Celta Vigo

On 30 June 2019, Suárez signed a four-year deal to return to Vigo, for a €16 million fee.^[16]

At the start of the 2022–23 season, after falling out with the club's president, Carlos Mouriño, Suárez was excluded from the first team for the rest of the campaign.^[17]

Espanyol (loan)

On 30 January 2023, Suárez joined fellow top tier club Espanyol on loan until the end of the season, with Celta being set to receive a €200.000 fee for the immediate transfer, plus an equal fee in the case Espanyol successfully avoided relegation.^[17][18]

Villarreal return

On 27 June 2023, after Espanyol's relegation, Suárez returned to Villarreal on a three-year deal.^[19]

International career

Suárez with Spain's U-19 in 2012

Suárez has been capped by Spain U17 and has scored two goals for the team, against Moldova and Northern Ireland. He was also a member of the Spain U19 which won the 2012 Under-19 European Championship. Suárez was a 71st-minute substitute in the final against Greece and made six appearances at the Championships, scoring twice and playing 284 minutes.^{[citation needed]}

On 29 May 2016, he made his senior debut coming on as second-half substitute for David Silva in a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[20] A week earlier on 20 May, he had represented Galicia in the region's first match for eight years, a 1–1 draw with Venezuela.^[21]

Career statistics

As of match played 12 May 2021.^[22][23][24]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup[a]		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Celta Vigo B	2009–10	Segunda División B	4	0	—		—		—		—		4	0
	2010–11		11	0	—		—		—		—		11	0
	Total		15	0	—		—		—		—		15	0
Manchester City	2011–12	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2012–13		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Barcelona B	2013–14	Segunda División	36	7	—		—		—		—		36	7
Sevilla (loan)	2014–15	La Liga	31	2	5	1	—		9[b]	3	1[c]	0	46	6
Villarreal	2015–16	La Liga	33	4	2	0	—		13[b]	1	—		48	5
Barcelona	2016–17	La Liga	26	1	7	2	—		1[d]	0	2[e]	0	36	3
	2017–18		18	2	5	1	—		3[d]	0	1[e]	0	27	3
	2018–19		2	0	4	2	—		2[d]	0	0[e]	0	8	2
	Total		46	3	16	5	—		6	0	3	0	71	8
Arsenal (loan)	2018–19	Premier League	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Celta Vigo	2019–20	La Liga	26	1	2	0	—		—		—		28	1
	2020–21		35	0	2	0	—		—		—		37	0
	2021–22		37	4	2	0	—		—		—		39	4
	Total		98	5	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	104	5
Career total			263	21	40	6	2	0	30	4	4	0	328	31

Notes

1. Includes cup competitions such as the FA Cup and Copa del Rey
2. Appearances in Europa League
3. Appearances in UEFA Super Cup
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
5. Appearances in Supercopa de España

Honours

Club

Sevilla

• UEFA Europa League: 2014–15^[25]

Barcelona

• La Liga: 2017–18, 2018–19^[26]
• Copa del Rey: 2016–17,^[27] 2017–18^[28]
• Supercopa de España: 2016^[29]

International

Spain U19

• UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2012^[30]

Spain U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 2017^[31][32]

Individual

• Manchester City's Young Player of the Year: 2011–12^[6]
• UEFA Europa League Top assist provider: 2015–16^[33]

References

1. "Acta del Partido celebrado el 13 de mayo de 2018, en Valencia" [Minutes of the Match held on 13 May 2018, in Valencia] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
2. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 List of Players: Spain" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 23 June 2013. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2013.
3. "Denis Suarez". RC Celta de Vigo. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
4. Murphy, Daniel (25 September 2019). "Former Arsenal midfielder Suarez explains why he left Man City". Manchester Evening News.
5. "City EDS V Manchester United reserves Manchester Senior Cup final match report - Manchester City FC". Archived from the original on 20 June 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
6. Michael, Lightfoot (4 May 2012). "Aguero voted Manchester City Player of the Year". Goal. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
7. "Official FC Barcelona Website - Barça | FCBarcelona.com | FC Barcelona". www.fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
8. Phillips, Rob (12 August 2014). "Super Cup: Cristiano Ronaldo scores twice in Real Madrid win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
9. Aitken, Nick (11 December 2014). "Suárez sends Sevilla through at Rijeka's expense". UEFA. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
10. "¡Bienvenido, Denis Suárez!" [Welcome, Denis Suárez!] (in Spanish). Villarreal's official website. 29 August 2015. Archived from the original on 1 September 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
11. "Denis Suárez joins FC Barcelona The player will have a medical on Tuesday and will be presented officially on Wednesday". FC Barcelona. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
12. Fernandez-Abascal, Eduardo (10 June 2016). "Denis Suarez to Barcelona: Spaniard agrees terms to become Luis Enrique's first summer signing". Business Insider UK.
13. Archer, Bruce (18 May 2017). "Barcelona transfer news: Board urges midfielder to stay despite Valencia interest".
14. "Arsenal loan Denis Suarez from Barcelona until end of season". 30 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
15. "Denis Suárez: Arsenal sign Barcelona midfielder on loan". BBC Sport. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
16. Celta announced Denis sign, "Denis sign four year deal with celta", Goal, 30 June 2019
17. Molero, Iván (31 January 2023). "Oficial: Denis Suárez, al Espanyol". Diario AS (in European Spanish). Retrieved 31 January 2023.
18. "Denis Suárez, nou jugador del RCD Espanyol". RCD Espanyol (in Catalan). 30 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
19. "Denis Suárez, nuevo jugador del Villarreal" [Denis Suárez, new Villarreal player] (in Spanish). Villarreal CF. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
20. "Euro 2016: Del Bosque hands debuts to eight players – MARCA English". Marca. 29 May 2016.
21. Bouzas, Fabián (21 May 2016). "La selección gallega empata con Venezuela en su fiesta del fútbol" [Galicia national team draw with Venezuela in their football party]. La Voz de Galicia. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
22. Denis Suárez at Soccerbase
23. Denis Suárez at Soccerway
24. "Denis Suárez in 2017/18". ESPN FC. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
25. "2014/15: Sevilla's historic fourth triumph". Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). 1 June 2016. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
26. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Denis Suárez". www.national-football-teams.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
27. "Barcelona 3 Alaves 1". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 27 May 2017. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
28. "Sevilla 0-5 Barcelona". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 April 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
29. "Barcelona easily win Spanish Super Cup". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
30. "Spain make it six of the best in Estonia". Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). UEFA. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
31. "Spain - U21 EURO - Squad". UEFA.com.
32. "Under-21 2017 - History - Matches – UEFA.com". Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
33. "Statistics — Tournament phase — Player statistics — Assists". UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 18 May 2016.

External links

• Villarreal CF official profile
• Denis Suárez at BDFutbol
• Denis Suárez at Soccerway
• Denis Suárez – UEFA competition record (archive)