Javier Sánchez de Felipe (born 14 March 1997) 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 le ...

who plays a

centre-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

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 ...

club

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

outskirts of

Getafe Getafe () is a 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 centre, within a flat ar ...

, Sánchez finished his development at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

after joining the club's academy at the age of 8. He made his senior debut with the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in the

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 ...

, his first match occurring on 10 October 2015 in a 1–0 home win against

Arenas Club de Getxo Arenas Club de Getxo is a Spanish football club based in the town of Getxo, near Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at Campo Mu ...

when he was still a junior. Sánchez scored his first goal for Castilla and in the third division on 3 December 2016, in a 1–1 home draw to

CDA Navalcarnero Club Deportivo Artístico Navalcarnero is a football team based in Navalcarnero, in the autonomous community of Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1961, it plays in Segunda Federación – Group 1, holding home games at the 2,500-seat ''Estadio Mariano Go ...

. In the summer of 2018, he was selected by first-team manager

Julen Lopetegui Julen Lopetegui Agote (; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. A goalkeeper, he played 149 La Liga matches over nine seasons, representing Real Madrid ...

for the United States pre-season tour. Sánchez's maiden competitive appearance with Real Madrid took place on 31 October 2018 which also marked new coach

Santiago Solari Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio (born 7 October 1976) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a left midfielder. He spent the better part of his 16-year professional career in Spain, amassing La Liga total ...

's debut, and the former featured the entire 4–0 victory at

UD Melilla Unión Deportiva Melilla is a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Melilla. Founded in 1976, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 5, holding home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro'', with a 8,000 c ...

for that season's

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

. He first appeared in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

one week later, coming on as a 59th-minute substitute for

Sergio Ramos Sergio Ramos García (; born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain and the Spain national football team, Spain nationa ...

in the 5–0 group stage away rout of

FC Viktoria Plzeň Football Club Viktoria Plzeň () is a Czech professional football club based in Plzeň. They play in the Czech First League, the top division of football in the country. As runners-up in the 1970–71 Czechoslovak Cup, the club gained the right ...

. His first

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 ...

game was on the 11th, when he replaced fellow youth graduate

Sergio Reguilón Sergio Reguilón Rodríguez (born 16 December 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Atlético Madrid, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, and the Spain national team. Reguilón came through Real Madrid' ...

at the end of the first half of an eventual 4–2 defeat of

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

Balaídos The Estadio Municipal de Balaídos (), known as Abanca-Balaídos for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium located in Vigo, Spain. It is owned by the Vigo's city council, and is the home of La Liga club Celta Vigo. The stadium opened on ...

. He scored his first goal still in that year, contributing to the 6–1 home win against Melilla in the Spanish Cup return leg.

Valladolid

On 27 July 2019, Sánchez was loaned out to fellow top-tier side

in a season-long deal. The move was made permanent on 16 June 2020, with the player signing a contract until 2024. After winning promotion from the

runners-up A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

, Sánchez scored his first goal in the top flight on 5 November 2022, opening the 2–1 home defeat of

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Estadi ...

. After the club was relegated again, he all but missed the 2023–24 campaign due to a knee injury.

Style of play

A quick, versatile, tall and strong defender who chooses the right moment to attack, Sánchez is an ambidextrous player with excellent positioning. A leader on the pitch, he is also technically gifted.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Javi 1997 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Real Valladolid players Spain men's youth international footballers