Luis Hernández Rodríguez (born 14 April 1989) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

. He joined the

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

academy as a nine-year-old, but never made an appearance for the senior team. He made his professional debut with

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

in 2012, playing 139 competitive matches and scoring one goal across four seasons. He then signed with

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, playing nine games before moving to

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

in January 2017. In 2020 he joined

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

and, two years later, returned to his country with

. Over six seasons in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, Hernández totalled 151 appearances and two goals.

Club career

Early years

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Hernández finished his formative years with hometown club

, making his senior debuts by first representing

the C C is the third letter in the Latin alphabet. C or c may also refer to: Computing * C (programming language), developed at Bell Labs in 1972 * C, a hexadecimal digit * C, a computable function, the set of all computable decision problems * C:, ...

and then

the B team The B Team is a global nonprofit initiative co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. It advocates for business practices that are more centered on humanity and the climate. History In 2013, a group of leaders came together followin ...

. In August 2011, he was expected to join

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

side

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

but nothing came of it.

Sporting Gijón

In January 2012, Hernández went on trial with Getafe B. However, he signed an 18-month deal with

instead, being assigned to the reserves in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

. On 2 September 2012, he made his professional debut in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 away draw against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

. On 31 January 2013, Hernández was promoted to the

Asturians Asturians () are a Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage The Asturians have Celtic ( Astures) and Latin cultural origins, most notably f ...

' first team alongside

Borja López Borja López Menéndez (; born 2 February 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central defender. He had two spells with Sporting de Gijón, totalling 81 games and two goals in the Segunda División as well as making three a ...

. He finished the season as an undisputed starter, appearing in 21 matches in all competitions. Hernández was an ever-present figure in the following campaigns, playing 38 league games in 2013–14 and 41 in 2014–15. He scored his first goal for the team on 24 November 2013, netting their first in a 3–1 win at

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

. On 23 August 2015, Hernández made his

debut, starting in a 0–0 home draw against Real Madrid. He made a total of 140 interceptions, more than any other player during the season, while Sporting barely survived relegation by a point.

Leicester City

On 21 June 2016, Hernández signed for

champions

in a free transfer on a four-year deal. He made his competitive debut on 7 August, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute for

Danny Simpson Daniel Peter Simpson (born 4 January 1987) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a right-back. He started his career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester United in the Premier League, later loaned for ...

in a 2–1 loss against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in the

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

. His first appearance in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

took place on 14 September, in a 3–0 group stage win at

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

. Hernández ultimately struggled to break into the first team in 2016–17, appearing mostly as an unused substitute. In January 2017,

were reported to be in advanced talks with Leicester over a possible loan deal for the player.

Málaga

On 24 January 2017, after spending just six months in England, Hernández returned to Spain and its top level to join Málaga on a three-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut three days later in a 1–1 draw away to

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

, and scored his first goal for the club on 14 May in another away fixture, 2–2 against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

. Hernández scored his second goal for the team on 12 June 2019, in a 4–2 defeat to

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

in the first leg of the promotion play-offs semi-final. He also took part in the second match, a 1–0 loss. Along with seven other first-team players, Hernández was released on 3 October 2020 due to a

layoff A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization ...

Maccabi Tel Aviv

Hernández joined

on 5 October 2020, agreeing to a one-year contract with an option to extend a further season. His team came runners-up in the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

in his first season, and he also scored in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

to help them defeat

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as football, basketball, w ...

2–1 in the final of the State Cup.

Cádiz

On 31 January 2022, Hernández returned to Spain and its top tier after signing a 18-month deal with

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Luis 1989 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Madrid C footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Sporting de Gijón B players Sporting de Gijón players Málaga CF players Cádiz CF players Premier League players Leicester City F.C. players Israeli Premier League players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Israel