Álvaro Medrán Just (; born 15 March 1994) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays for

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club

Al-Ettifaq Al-Ettifaq Club (), commonly known as Al-Ettifaq or simply Ettifaq, is a professional football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, which competes in the Saudi Pro League. The club was established by the merger of three Dammam-based clubs in 1945. Al- ...

as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He began his career with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, going through the club's academy and later playing five matches with the first team; he was also loaned to

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

before being released. He signed for

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in July 2016, serving loans at Alavés and

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

. Medrán represented Spain at youth level.

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in

Dos Torres Dos Torres is a city located in the province of Córdoba, Spain. According to the 2006 census ( INE), the city has a population of 2592 inhabitants. History During the Middle Ages (and possibly before that), it used to be called Torremilano an ...

, Province of Córdoba, Medrán joined

's youth setup in 2011, aged 17. After being promoted to the C team the following year he played his first match as a senior on 23 February 2014, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 away win against

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

for the reserves in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. He scored his first professional goals on 31 May, netting a brace in a 2–1 home victory over

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a historical List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Sabadell ( Catalonia) Founded in 1903, its first men's team plays in the . Its first CE Sabadell (women), women's tea ...

. Medrán made his first-team – and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

– debut on 18 October 2014, replacing

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder and Captain (association football), captains both La Liga club Real Madrid and the Croatia national football team, Cro ...

in the 79th minute of a 5–0 away rout of

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

. On 9 December, in his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

maiden appearance, he scored his first senior goal for the club after replacing

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, and the Wales national ...

in the 83rd minute, netting the last in the 4–0 defeat of

PFC Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

in the group stage five minutes later. Later that month, he was part of the squad that won the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

in Morocco, but did not take to the field. On 2 July 2015, Medrán was loaned to

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long deal. He scored his first goal in the Spanish top flight on 24 April 2016, his team's first in a 2–2 home draw against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

. He added another on 15 May, but in a 2–1 loss at

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

which ensured top-tier relegation after a 12-year stay.

Valencia

On 11 July 2016, Medrán signed a four-year deal with Valencia. On 1 September of the following year, he was loaned to

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

for one season. Medrán scored his first goal for the latter club on 30 September 2017, helping the visitors to defeat Levante 2–0. After the appointment of new manager Abelardo Fernández in December, however, he was rarely played, which led to the player bursting into tears in a post-match interview following a league fixture at

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

in April 2018 where he featured 16 minutes and netted once (4–0). On 11 August 2018, Medrán was loaned to fellow top-division club

for the campaign.

Chicago Fire

On 10 October 2019, Medrán was announced as a new signing by

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

side

Chicago Fire FC Chicago Fire Football Club is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Chicago. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The Fire play their hom ...

ahead of the upcoming season. He made his debut the following 1 March, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–1 loss at

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

. Medrán left

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

in November 2021.

Saudi Arabia

On 28 December 2021, Medrán joined

Al Taawoun FC Al Taawoun FC () is a professional multi-sports club based in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. The football team competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of Saudi Football. The club plays their home games at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in B ...

of the

. In January 2024, he agreed to a three-and-a-half-year contract at

Al-Ettifaq FC Al-Ettifaq Club (), commonly known as Al-Ettifaq or simply Ettifaq, is a professional football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, which competes in the Saudi Pro League. The club was established by the merger of three Dammam-based clubs in 1945. Al- ...

in the same country and league.

International career

Medrán won his only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the Spanish under-21s on 12 November 2014, playing the second half of the 1–4 friendly loss to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in Ferrol.

Career statistics

Honours

Real Madrid *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Medran, Alvaro 1994 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Córdoba (Spain) Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Madrid C footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Getafe CF footballers Valencia CF players Deportivo Alavés players Rayo Vallecano players Major League Soccer players Chicago Fire FC players Saudi Pro League players Al Taawoun FC players Al-Ettifaq FC players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia