Joan Verdú Fernández (; born 5 May 1983) 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 ...

. A versatile

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, adept as both central or

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he started professionally at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, but played mainly for local rivals

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

during his career, amassing

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' ...

totals of 262 games and 35 goals over nine seasons and also representing in the competition Deportivo, Betis and Levante.

Club career

Born in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

, Verdú was a product of

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. Found ...

's youth system. He played mainly for its B side as a senior, making his debut with the main squad on 27 October 2004 in a 1–0 away loss against

UDA Gramenet Unión Deportiva Atlético Gramenet Milán is a Spanish football team based in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1945 it currently plays in ''Segona Catalana – Group 4'', holding home games at '' Muni ...

in the round of 64 of the

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 footb ...

; his second and last appearance took place on 7 December, in a 2–0 defeat at FC Shakhtar Donetsk for the group stage of 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 competi ...

. Verdú moved to

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

for 2006–07, being relatively used by 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 la ...

throughout the season and scoring in a 2–0 away win over

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

on 11 February 2007. He produced similar numbers in his

second year Second year (also known as S2 in Scotland) is the second year of schooling in secondary schools in Scotland and in the Republic of Ireland, and is roughly equivalent to Year 9 in England and Wales and Year 10 (Third Form) in Northern Ireland. M ...

. Profiting from

Juan Carlos Valerón Juan Carlos Valerón Santana (born 17 June 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager. Over 15 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 390 matches and 29 goals in representation of Mallorc ...

's age and recurrent physical problems, Verdú had a breakthrough year in the 2008–09 campaign, often assuming the playmaking duties of the former while also adding seven league goals. However, after a new deal could not be agreed, the

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

moved back to his native region after three years, signing a four-year contract with

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

. Verdú netted against his previous team on 19 September 2009 in a 3–2 away victory, and started most of his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ar ...

, also benefitting from age and injury-related problems of another teammate,

Iván de la Peña Iván de la Peña López (; born 6 May 1976) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. During his career, he earned the nicknames ''Pequeño Buddha'' ( ''Little Buddha'') and ''Lo Pelat'' (''The Shaven One' ...

. Without any real competitor the following season – de la Peña only saw 30 minutes of action– he improved his numbers to 37 games and five goals, as the ''Pericos'' finished comfortably in midtable. In summer 2013,

Verdú signed a four-year deal with another club in that tier,

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 ...

. After suffering relegation, he went on to represent in quick succession

Baniyas Club Baniyas Sports and Cultural Club is an Emirati Sports Club, based in Al Shamkha, in the Baniyas area of Abu Dhabi. The club competes in the UAE Pro-League. Presidency * SourcePresidency Honours President's Cup *Winners: 1991–92 Division O ...

(

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

), ACF Fiorentina (Italy) and Levante UD. On 12 January 2017, the 33-year-old Verdú moved to the

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

with Qingdao Huanghai FC, where he shared teams with compatriot

Martí Crespí Martí Crespí Pascual (; born 15 June 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Atlético Sanluqueño CF as a central defender. Club career Born in Sa Pobla, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Crespí finished his development at loca ...

. In November 2020, Verdú returned to football at Nou Barris-based

CF Montañesa Club de Futbol Montañesa is a Spanish football team based in Barcelona in the district of Nou Barris, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1927, it plays in the , holding home games at ''Camp Municipal de Nou Barris'', with a cap ...

of the

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the '' Segunda División'', and the semi-professional '' Segunda ...

, signing alongside his former Barcelona and Espanyol teammate

Sergio García Sergio García Fernández (; born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has played on the European Tour, PGA Tour and LIV Golf Invitational Series. García has won 36 international tournaments as a professional, most notably t ...

Club statistics

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verdu, Joan 1983 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Barcelona Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Tercera Federación players FC Barcelona C players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Deportivo de La Coruña players RCD Espanyol footballers Real Betis players Levante UD footballers CF Montañesa players CE L'Hospitalet players UAE Pro League players Baniyas Club players Serie A players ACF Fiorentina players China League One players Qingdao F.C. players Spain youth international footballers Catalonia international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in China Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Spanish expatriate sportspeople in China