Francisco Miguel Varela Martín (born 26 October 1994) is a Spanish

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 le ...

who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Linares Deportivo. Formed at Betis, where he made 14

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

appearances, he played 71 games and scored two goals in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

for that team,

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

and

Rayo Majadahonda Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish football team based in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Cerro del Espino'', with ...

. He also had a brief spell in the Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

with

Belenenses SAD B-SAD is a Portuguese football club from Lisbon founded on 30 June 2018 as an independent entity. A rebel offshoot of Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, they last played in the Primeira Liga, being relegated to Liga Portugal 2 for 2022–23. They ...

Club career

Betis

Born in

Atarfe Atarfe is a Spanish city in the north central part of the Vega of Granada in the province of Granada, Andalusia. It borders the municipalities of Moclín, Colomera, Albolote, Maracena, Granada, Santa Fe, and Pinos Puente. By this village run the ...

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, Varela graduated from

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

' youth setup, after starting it out at neighbouring Granada CF. He made his senior debuts with the reserves in the 2011–12 campaign, in

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

. On 4 May 2013 Varela was called up to the main squad for a

match against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

, but was an unused substitute in the eventual 2–4 away loss a day later. He played his first match as a professional on 27 February 2014, replacing

Rubén Castro Rubén Castro Martín (; born 27 June 1981) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Málaga CF mainly as a striker but also as a winger. He represented mainly Las Palmas and Betis during his career, appearing in 282 matches in La ...

in the 81st minute of a 2–0 away win against FC Rubin Kazan in that season's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. Varela renewed his contract with the ''Verdiblancos'' on 24 July 2014, running until 2016. He made his league debut on 23 November, starting in a 1–2 home loss against

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to 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 ...

in the

championship. On 5 May 2015, Varela renewed his contract for a further season, and subsequently achieved promotion to La Liga after appearing in 22 matches. He made his debut in the category on 27 September, starting in a 2–1 away win against

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

Oviedo and Majadahonda

On 14 July 2016, Varela signed a two-year contract with

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

in the second level, after being deemed surplus to requirements by new manager Gus Poyet. He scored his only goal for the

Asturians Asturians ( ast, asturianos) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage Asturians are directly descended from the Astures, who wer ...

on 11 December with a late

direct free kick A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the laws by the opposing team. Direct and indirect free kicks Free kicks may be either direct or indirect, distinguished as follows: ...

nine minutes after replacing

Néstor Susaeta Néstor Susaeta Jaurrieta (born 11 December 1984) is a Spanish retired professional Association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger. Having been on the books of Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao without ma ...

in a 2–1 loss at

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 league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

, but later lost his starting place under manager

Fernando Hierro Fernando Ruiz Hierro (; born 23 March 1968) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, sweeper or defensive midfielder. He is the current sporting director of Liga MX club C.D. Guadalajara. He won five La Liga ...

and ended his season in April 2017 to undergo surgery on his left knee. Varela moved to fellow league team

CF Rayo Majadahonda Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish football team based in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at ''Estadio Cerro del Espino'', with ...

on 6 July 2018. He played 26 times as the newly promoted side went straight back down, and scored once to open a 4–3 loss at Oviedo on his return to the

Estadio Carlos Tartiere Estadio Municipal Carlos Tartiere is a multi-use stadium in Oviedo, Spain. With a capacity of 30,500 seats, it is the 17th-largest stadium in Spain and the largest in Asturias. The new Carlos Tartiere replaced the former stadium of the same name ...

on 4 June 2019; the loss in the penultimate game of the season confirmed their relegation.

B-SAD

On 30 July 2019, after Rayo's relegation, Varela moved abroad for the first time by signing for Portugal's

on a three-year deal. He made his debut in the

in the season opener on 9 August, starting in a goalless draw at

Portimonense SC Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It a ...

. He lost his place to the unrelated youngster Nilton Varela after

Petit Petite or petite may refer to: *Petit (crater), a small, bowl-shaped lunar crater on Mare Spumans * ''Petit'' (EP), a 1995 EP by Japanese singer-songwriter Ua * Petit (typography), another name for brevier-size type *Petit four * Petit Gâteau *P ...

became the manager, could not find a new suitor in the January 2020

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, and following a shoulder operation in his homeland in March did not return to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

again.

Return to Spain

In January 2021, Varela went back to his country, signing for third-tier

San Fernando CD San Fernando Club Deportivo Isleño is a Spanish football team based in San Fernando, Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2009, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home matches at Estadio Bahía Sur, ...

. He spent the following season in the new league at the same level, the Primera División RFEF, split between Extremadura UD and

UE Costa Brava C.F. Badalona Futur S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Badalona, Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Founded in 1947, it currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group 3. Its home stadium is ''Estadi Municipal'', wit ...

who were both relegated; he scored a career-best four goals, all for the latter club, including two in a 3–0 home win over UCAM Murcia CF on 7 May 2022. On 15 July 2022, Varela signed for another team in the same league, CD Alcoyano. The following 12 January, he made another mid-season switch, to Linares Deportivo.

Statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varela, Francisco 1994 births Living people Footballers from the Province of Granada Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers Real Betis players Real Oviedo players CF Rayo Majadahonda players San Fernando CD players Extremadura UD footballers CF Badalona Futur players CD Alcoyano footballers Linares Deportivo footballers Primeira Liga players B-SAD players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Spain men's youth international footballers