Raúl de Tomás Gómez (; born 17 October 1994) 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 le ...
who plays as a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
for
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
Rayo Vallecano and the
Spain national team.
He began as a youth team player at
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 ...
, making only one
substitute appearance for the first team but playing and scoring regularly on loans to
Córdoba,
Valladolid and
Rayo Vallecano of 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 ...
, winning promotion to
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 ...
with the last of those teams. In 2019 he joined Portuguese club
Benfica for a €20 million fee, returning to Spain's top flight with
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 ...
six months later for the same price.
De Tomás made his full debut for
Spain in 2021.
Club career
Real Madrid
Reserve teams
Born in
Madrid to a Spanish father and a
Dominican mother, De Tomás joined
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 ...
's youth academy in 2004 after starting out at CD San Roque EFF. He played his first senior match on 8 April 2012, featuring the last 21 minutes for
the C team in a 2–0 home win against
CF Pozuelo de Alarcón
Club de Fútbol Pozuelo de Alarcón is a football team based in Pozuelo de Alarcón in the autonomous Community of Madrid. Founded in 1995, the team plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 7. The club's home ground is '' Estadio Valle de las Ca ...
in the
Tercera División.
De Tomás was promoted to the third team in the middle of 2012, with the side now 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 ...
. On 17 August 2012, he appeared in his first game for
the reserves, coming on as a late
substitute for
Juanfran in a 2–1 away loss to
Villarreal CF 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 16 December, back with the C side, De Tomás scored a
hat-trick in a 5–2 home defeat of
CD Marino
Club Deportivo Marino Playa de Las Américas, known simply as CD Marino, is a semi-professional Spanish football club based in Playa de Las Américas, Tenerife, in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands.
Founded in 1933, the club hails f ...
. He continued to represent both affiliates during the season, and was definitely promoted to Castilla in September 2013.
De Tomás scored his first professional goal on 4 December 2013, netting the first in a 3–2 home victory over
Girona FC
Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs.
Girona holds its home matches at ...
. He contributed with a further six in 27 appearances over
the campaign, as the B team suffered relegation.
In July 2014, De Tomás was included in the main squad for its pre-season trip to the United States. He made his competitive debut for them on 29 October of the same year, replacing
Karim Benzema in a 4–1 away defeat of
UE Cornellà in the
round of 32
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
of the
Copa del Rey.
Loans
![Real Valladolid - Rayo Vallecano 2019-01-05 20 (cropped) RDT](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Real_Valladolid_-_Rayo_Vallecano_2019-01-05_20_%28cropped%29_RDT.jpg)
On 31 August 2015, De Tomás was loaned to
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 ...
in a
season-long move. A year later, he signed with
Real Valladolid also in the second tier and in a temporary deal.
De Tomás was loaned to
Rayo Vallecano on 1 September 2017. He was the second-highest scorer of
the season with 24 goals, including hat-tricks in victories over
Lorca FC
Lorca Fútbol Club was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lorca, Spain, Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in the Region of ...
,
Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa and
CF Reus Deportiu
Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Reus, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it last competed in the Segunda Division (while its B team competed in the Tercera Division) before foldi ...
, as the club from
Vallecas won the league and were promoted back to the top flight; this haul was a season record for any player in its history,
and he was also named
Segunda División Player of the Month The Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second profes ...
in February and April 2018.
On 17 June 2018, De Tomás signed a new contract with Real Madrid until 2023. Two months later, he was loaned to Rayo Vallecano for
another campaign. He scored his first goal in the
Spanish top tier on 22 September, but in a 5–1 home defeat against
Deportivo Alavés. The following 11 January, also at the
Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas
Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas (originally Nuevo Estadio de Vallecas and previously Estadio Teresa Rivero) is a football stadium in the Madrid district of Puente de Vallecas, Spain. It currently hosts football matches and is the home of Primera ...
, his hat-trick helped the hosts down
RC Celta de Vigo
Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...
4–2.
Benfica
On 3 July 2019, De Tomás signed a five-year contract with Portuguese champions
S.L. Benfica on a €20 million transfer fee. He debuted for the club as a starter in the
5–0 thrashing of
crosstown rivals Sporting CP in the
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira on 4 August.
He scored his first competitive goal for the side in a 3–1 loss at
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg
Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in ...
in
the group stage of the
UEFA Champions League, as a substitute;
UEFA ordered his shirt to say his legal surname for that match, while he habitually wore his initials instead.
During his spell at the
Estádio da Luz, De Tomás scored only three goals from 17 appearances.
Espanyol
On 9 January 2020, De Tomás returned to his country's top flight, signing for
RCD Espanyol on a contract lasting until 2026. The transfer fee of €20 million was a new record for the club from
Barcelona, nearly doubling the €10.5 million they paid for
Matías Vargas; Benfica retained 20% of his future transfer fee.
[ Three days after joining, he made his debut away to ]UD San Sebastián de los Reyes
Unión Deportiva San Sebastián de los Reyes, also known as Sanse is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in San Sebastián de los Reyes, in the autonomous community of Community of Madrid, Madrid. Founded in 1971 it pla ...
in the third round of the national cup, coming on in the 61st minute for Jonathan Calleri
Jonathan Calleri (; ; born 23 September 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Brazilian club São Paulo.
Calleri started his career at All Boys and played for Boca Juniors for one season before signing for D ...
and wrapping up a 2–0 win. On 19 January, he started in his first league game and scored the decisive goal of a 2–1 victory at Villarreal CF. He scored in each of his first five games, triggering a clause that obliged Espanyol to pay Benfica a further €500,000.
In 2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
, De Tomás was the league's top scorer with 23 goals as the side won the title and returned to the top division one year after relegation. He was voted Player of the Month for December, scoring four times as his team won their four fixtures.
De Tomás scored in a 2–1 home win over Real Madrid on 3 October 2021 to start a run of goals in five consecutive matches, though he was sent off for an aggression towards 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 ...
's Yeray Álvarez
Yeray Álvarez López (; born 24 January 1995), known simply as Yeray, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Athletic Bilbao.
Club career
Born in Barakaldo, Biscay, Basque Country, Yeray joined Athletic B ...
in the fourth of them. Another series of goals over five games included a red card in a 4–1 loss to Real Betis at the RCDE Stadium
RCDE Stadium, also known as Estadi Cornellà-El Prat (; es, Estadio Cornellà-El Prat ), is an all-seater football stadium on the outskirts of Cornellà de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat, in the wider Barcelona urban area (Catalonia, Spain). ...
on 21 January and was concluded with an equaliser in a 2–2 draw in the ''Derbi barceloní
The Derbi Barceloní (; es, Derbi Barcelonés, ; "Barcelonian derby"), is the name given to football matches between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol. Both clubs are located in the Barcelona metropolitan area, Spain.
Rivalry
In the first half of ...
'' against FC Barcelona on 13 February. With 17 goals in 34 appearances, he was joint-second top scorer in the league season behind Karim Benzema and level with Vinícius Júnior and Iago Aspas
Iago Aspas Juncal (; born 1 August 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Celta and the Spain national team.
He has spent most of his career with Celta, appearing in 418 official games across 13 seasons and scor ...
; he shared the Zarra Trophy for best domestic scorer with the latter, who had played one game more.
Return to Rayo
On 13 September 2022, De Tomás returned to Rayo Vallecano on a five-year contract. He only became available for the team's official matches starting January 2023.
International career
In November 2021, due to Ansu Fati's injury, De Tomás was called up for the first time to the senior Spain national team, ahead of 2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...
qualifiers with Greece and Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. He won his first cap against the former, starting in a 1–0 win in Athens.
Personal life
De Tomás' father, also named Raúl (born 1967), was also a footballer and a forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
. He spent most of his career in the Spanish third tier. His younger brother, Rubén, came through the youth ranks of Rayo Vallecano.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Rayo Vallecano
*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 ...
: 2017–18[
Benfica
* Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: ]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 ...
[
Espanyol
*Segunda División: ]2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
[
Individual
*Segunda División top scorer: 2020–21][
*]Segunda División Player of the Month The Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second profes ...
: February 2018,[ April 2018,][ December 2020][
* Zarra Trophy: 2021–22][
*]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 ...
Team of the Season: 2021–22
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomas, Raul De
1994 births
Living people
Spanish people of Dominican Republic descent
European sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent
Footballers from Madrid
Spanish footballers
Association football forwards
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Tercera División players
Real Madrid C footballers
Real Madrid Castilla footballers
Real Madrid CF players
Córdoba CF players
Real Valladolid players
Rayo Vallecano players
RCD Espanyol footballers
Primeira Liga players
S.L. Benfica footballers
Spain youth international footballers
Spain international footballers
Spanish expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Portugal
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal