Jesús Vallejo Lázaro (born 5 January 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as 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 La Liga club

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 ...

, on loan from

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 ...

. He started his career with Zaragoza. In 2015 the 18-year-old signed for

, being consecutively loaned to Zaragoza, Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolverhampton Wanderers and

and being a reserve player during his spell. Vallejo was a youth international for Spain, winning the 2019 European Under-21 Championship and conquering silver with the

Olympic team A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Club career

Zaragoza

Born in Zaragoza,

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

, Vallejo joined Real Zaragoza's youth setup in 2008, aged 11. On 26 July 2013, after impressing in the ''Juvenil'' squad, he signed a new deal with the club. On 23 August 2014, before even having appeared for the reserves, Vallejo made his professional debut, starting in a 0–0 draw at Recreativo de Huelva in the

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 ...

. On 26 December, he further extended his contract until 2019. Vallejo scored his first professional goal on 5 April 2015, the last in the 1–1 away draw against CD Tenerife. He was appointed team captain by manager Ranko Popović for that match, and remained in the role afterwards.

Real Madrid

On 31 July 2015, Vallejo signed a six-year contract with

for a rumoured €6 million fee, being immediately loaned back to Zaragoza for one year. The following summer, he moved abroad after agreeing to a one-year loan deal with German club Eintracht Frankfurt. Jesus Vallejo

Vallejo's maiden appearance in the Bundesliga took place on 27 August 2016, as he came as a late substitute in a 1–0 home win over

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

. He scored his first goal also from the bench, contributing to a 2–2 draw to RB Leipzig also at the Commerzbank-Arena in the last match of the season. On 7 July 2017, Vallejo was unveiled as a Real Madrid player and member of the first team squad for the upcoming campaign. He was handed the number 3 shirt, previously worn by Pepe. His official debut took place on 26 October, when he started and was sent off in the last minute of a 2–0 away win against CF Fuenlabrada in the Copa del Rey. His maiden appearance in La Liga occurred ten days later, when he partnered

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 3–0 home defeat of UD Las Palmas. Profiting from injury to Nacho and suspension to Ramos, Vallejo made his debut in the UEFA Champions League on 11 April 2018, playing the entire 1–3 home loss to Juventus F.C. in the second leg of the quarter-finals, which still qualified to the last-four 4–3 on aggregate. It was his only appearance, as Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall title in the tournament. On 27 July 2019, Vallejo moved to English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan. He made his competitive debut on 15 August, in a 4–0 home win against

FC Pyunik Football Club Pyunik Yerevan ( hy, Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ Փյունիկ Երևան, Futbolayin Akumb P’yunik Yerevan), commonly known as Pyunik ("Phoenix (mythology), Phoenix"), is an Armenian professional sports club based in the ...

in the third qualifying round in the UEFA Europa League. He played his first Premier League match on 14 September, featuring the full 90 minutes in the 5–2 loss to Chelsea also at Molineux. He made one further league appearance, but was not used again except for an

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

tie in a side consisting largely of reserve players. At the start of the January transfer window, Wolves' head coach Nuno Espírito Santo confirmed that Vallejo was likely to leave and added that the defender "had moments that he played, moments that he performed well, and some moments he didn't perform well ... Clearly it didn't work out". On 24 January 2020, he was loaned to Granada CF of the Spanish top tier until June; on 18 August, the move was extended for another year, and he featured 12 times in the Andalusians' quarter-final run in the Europa League for a total of 37 over the campaign. Due to suspensions and injuries, Vallejo started in the 4–0 home victory over RCD Espanyol on 30 April 2022 as Real Madrid clinched their 35th league title, partnering

Casemiro Carlos Henrique Casimiro (born 23 February 1992), known as Casemiro, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Manchester United and the Brazil national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best ...

in central defence. He played only eight competitive matches during the season, however. On 15 July 2023, Vallejo returned to Granada on a season-long loan.

International career

On 7 March 2013, Vallejo appeared with the Spain under-16 team in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with Hungary. He earned his first cap for the under-21s on 26 March 2015 at the age of 18, starting in the 2–0 win against Norway in Cartagena in another exhibition game. Selected for the 2017 Under-21 European Championship finals by manager Albert Celades, Vallejo played four times for the eventual runners-up. Even though he was not part of the squad of 23 for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

finals, he was picked by full side head coach

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 ...

for a friendly with

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

to be held on 3 June. Vallejo was one of 22 players selected by the under-23 team for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, delayed until the summer of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Career statistics

Honours

Real Madrid * La Liga: 2021–22 * Copa del Rey: 2022–23 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

: 2021–22 * UEFA Champions League: 2017–18, 2021–22 * UEFA Super Cup:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Spain U19 * UEFA European Under-19 Championship:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Spain U21 * UEFA European Under-21 Championship:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

; runner-up

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Spain U23 *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

silver medal:

Individual *UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2019

References

External links

Real Madrid profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vallejo, Jesus 1997 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Zaragoza Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Real Zaragoza players Real Madrid CF players Granada CF footballers Bundesliga players Eintracht Frankfurt players Premier League players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players UEFA Champions League winning players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Olympic footballers for Spain Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Olympic silver medalists for Spain Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England