Juan Luis Gómez López (born 8 May 1980), commonly known as Juanlu, is a Spanish former

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 played as a

left 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 ...

. In a professional career that lasted 14 years, he amassed

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 ...

totals of 122 matches and 14 goals over seven seasons, representing in the competition Numancia, Betis,

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

and Levante. He added 136 games and 25 goals 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 ...

Club career

Beginnings

Born in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, Juanlu began his career at amateurs

CD Don Benito Club Deportivo Don Benito is a Spanish football team based in Don Benito, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1928 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at ''Estadio Vicente Sanz'', with a capacit ...

and Mármol Macael CD before moving to neighbouring UD Almería of

, being first-choice in his first season but only a backup – seven games, none complete – in

the second ''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the origin ...

. During his time at the

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 ...

side, Juanlu also had a loan stint at

Alicante CF Alicante Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1918, it played its home matches at ''Estadio Alicante CF'', with a 4,000-seat capacity. History ''Alicante Club de Fútbol'', under t ...

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 ...

Betis

Juanlu made his

debut in the 2004–05 campaign, playing 27 league matches for

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

(two goals, scoring against

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 ...

in the league opener on 28 August, in a 1–1 home draw) before moving to Betis upon Numancia's relegation. During his time at the ''Verdiblancos'', Juanlu was loaned to Albacete Balompié and CA Osasuna. Unhappy at his lack of first team opportunities at the

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

club, he showed satisfaction upon his move to

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

: "I am happy because this deal is good for everyone, especially for me because I've joined a team that's in the Champions League qualifying round." He was relatively used in the league, and added six appearances with two goals 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 ...

, including the only in the second leg of the quarter-finals against

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

. In July 2007, again on loan, Juanlu joined another second division side,

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

, netting five goals during the season as they barely avoided relegation. He returned to Betis in July 2008, and was told to look for a new club.

Levante

After one year out of football, training with Betis but not registered, Juanlu broke ties with Betis on 12 June 2009, moving to

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

on a one-year deal on 28 July. In his first season, the veteran enjoyed his best professional year, scoring for the first time in double digits as the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

team returned to the top division after two years. Juanlu appeared in 28 games in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

as Levante retained their league status, netting three times. On 23 October 2011 he scored a brace in a 3–0 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, th ...

, with his team leading the league early into the campaign. In late December, however, whilst

playing Play is a range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other higher-functio ...

against Deportivo de La Coruña in 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 footbal ...

, he suffered

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

and ankle

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

fracture after a challenge by Borja, going on to be sidelined for three months. Juanlu scored twice in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, in another escape from relegation. One of those goals came on 26 May 2013 at the San Mamés Stadium in a 1–0 defeat of

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

, in what was the last goal ever in the ground. Late into the season he, alongside

Sergio Ballesteros Sergio Martínez Ballesteros (born 4 September 1975) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He started and finished his 19-year professional career with Levante, amassing La Liga totals of 387 games and e ...

and

Gustavo Munúa Gustavo Adolfo Munúa Vera (born 27 January 1978) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently manager of Argentine club Unión de Santa Fe. After starting out at Nacional he spent most of his professional career in S ...

, was accused by teammate

José Barkero José Javier Barkero Saludes (born 27 April 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer. A left-footed attacking midfielder, he possessed a powerful long-range shot. He amassed La Liga totals of 159 games and 30 goals over one decade, rep ...

of lack of commitment during a 0–4 home loss to Deportivo, which led to several

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

allegations.

Later years

On 27 August 2013, aged 33, Juanlu moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining compatriot Jonan García at newly promoted Greek club Kalloni FC. After being sparingly used he returned to Spain, joining

on 21 January of the following year. He appeared in 16 competitive matches during the campaign, which ended in top-division promotion after a 42-year absence.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Juanlu 1980 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Málaga Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CD Don Benito players UD Almería players Alicante CF footballers CD Numancia players Real Betis players Albacete Balompié players CA Osasuna players Córdoba CF players Levante UD footballers Super League Greece players AEL Kalloni F.C. players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece