Francisco Javier Peral Periane (born 4 November 1983), known as Javito, is a Spanish retired 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 ...
.
Club career
Barcelona
Born in
Moraleja
Moraleja is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. It is the most important town in the Sierra de Gata comarca. The Postal Code is 10128.
The Town Hall is currently heavily indebted.
This municipality is included ...
,
Province of Cáceres
The province of Cáceres ( ; es, provincia de Cáceres, ) is a province of western Spain, and makes up the northern half of the autonomous community of Extremadura. Its capital is the city of Cáceres. Other cities in the province include Pla ...
,
Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
, Javito joined
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 ...
's youth system at the age of 17, signing from his local club. He made his professional debuts with
their reserves, playing two seasons 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 ...
and scoring a career-best ten goals in 29 games in
his first.
Javito made his official debut for the first team on 7 December 2004, in a
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 ...
group stage match against
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was ...
, playing the first half of the 0–2 away loss. However, he was unable to become a regular member of the main squad partly due to a long period on the sidelines as a result of
thrombosis
Thrombosis (from Ancient Greek "clotting") is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (thro ...
.
Aris
Javito joined
Aris Thessaloniki F.C.
Aris FC ( el, ΠΑΕ Άρης), commonly known as Aris Thessaloniki FC, AFC or simply Aris, is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. Created in 1914 as ''Aris Thessaloniki Football Club'', th ...
in the summer of 2006, being the first of several Spaniards that would move to the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
club in the following years as a result of the solid relationships between agent Manel Ferrer – an Aris collaborator – and the Spanish transfer market. He immediately established himself in the side's starting XI, helping them to the
fourth position in the
Superleague just one year after promoting.
In the
2007–08 playoffs, Javito netted twice in a 4–0 home win against
AEK Athens FC
AEK FC ( el, ΠΑΕ A.E.K. ; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; ''Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos'', meaning ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a Greek professional football club based in Nea Filad ...
. Previously, on 4 October 2007, he scored in a 1–2 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 ...
as his team won 2–2 on aggregate and qualified to
the group stages in the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
.
After his solid late performances for Aris, as his contract was due to expire, Javi signed for a further three years, earning an approximate annual wage of
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
180.000. He started the
2008–09 campaign in great individual form, and scored the winning goal against
Olympiacos F.C.
Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σ.Φ.Π. ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus, Attica. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP ('' ...
on 26 October 2008 (1–0), breaking the ten-year record of invincibility that their opponents held at the
Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium
The Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium () or Charilaou Ground (Γήπεδο Χαριλάου) is a football stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece. It was built in 1951 as the home stadium of Aris F.C. (Thessaloniki), one of the most popular football clubs in ...
.
On 16 September 2010, Javito scored the game's only goal at home against
Europa League title holders Atlético Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...
, and also played the full 90 minutes in the second game at the
Vicente Calderón Stadium
The Vicente Calderón Stadium ( es, Estadio Vicente Calderón ) was the home stadium of Atlético Madrid from its completion in 1966 to 2017, with a seating capacity of 54,907 and located on the banks of the Manzanares, in the Arganzuela distric ...
(3–2 win) with the Greek eventually
finishing second in the group stage at the expense of precisely the opposition.
Deportivo / Olympiakos
On 31 January 2011, Javito returned to his country and joined
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 ...
club
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...
. He would not make one single appearance during his four-month spell due to bureaucratic problems, which included the lack of his signature in the document sent to
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
, with the
Galicians
Galicians ( gl, galegos, es, gallegos, link=no) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group from Spain that is closely related to the Portuguese people and has its historic homeland is Galicia, in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. Two Romance l ...
eventually
being relegated.
Javito returned to Greece in ensuing off-season as he signed with Olympiacos, which again featured several compatriots as manager
Ernesto Valverde
Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao.
Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...
. In September 2012, his contract was terminated.
Back to Spain
In late December 2012, Javito signed with
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 ...
side
Hércules CF
Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its hom ...
. He contributed with nine starts until the end of
the season (748 minutes of action), moving to fellow league club
AD Alcorcón
Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 1, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo ...
subsequently.
Return to Greece
In summer 2014, Javito returned to Greece and its top level, agreeing to a one-year deal with
PAE Kerkyra
PAE Kerkyra ( el, ΠΑΕ Κέρκυρα), was a Greek football club based in Corfu, Greece. The club played in the Gamma Ethniki, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, following changes to the league structure in 2019. It played ...
. The following year, he signed a one-year contract with fellow league club
Panthrakikos FC.
International career
Javito earned 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. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...
for the
Spain under-21 team on 7 June 2005, coming on as a late
substitute for
Jaime Gavilán in a 4–2 win against
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
for the
2006 UEFA European Championship qualifiers.
Club statistics
References
External links
*
*
Deportivo archives*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Javito
1983 births
Living people
Footballers from the Province of Cáceres
Spanish men's footballers
Men's association football wingers
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Tercera División players
FC Barcelona C players
FC Barcelona Atlètic players
FC Barcelona players
Deportivo de La Coruña players
Hércules CF players
AD Alcorcón footballers
CD Guijuelo footballers
Super League Greece players
Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players
Olympiacos F.C. players
PAE Kerkyra players
Panthrakikos F.C. players
Süper Lig players
Orduspor footballers
Spain men's under-21 international footballers
Spanish expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Greece
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey