Robert Lynch Sánchez (born 18 November 1997) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

and the Spain national team. Sánchez came through Albion's

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

Club career

Early life and career

Sánchez was born in Cartagena,

Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; es, Región de Murcia ), is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. The region is in ...

. He was born to a Jamaican-English father and Spanish mother. He spent his early career playing locally with Escuela de Fútbol de Santa Ana,

Cartagena FC Cartagena Fútbol Club is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the autonomous community of Murcia. They were formerly called UD Cartagenera. Founded in 1940, it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 13, holding home games at ' ...

and Ciudad Jardín before joining Levante in 2010.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Sánchez moved to England to sign for

at the age of 15, before signing his first professional contract in June 2015. He signed a new three-year contract with the club in April 2018.

Loan spells

In June 2018, Sánchez moved on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

for the 2018–19 season. He played in the opening game of the season making his debut away at

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

where Rovers won 4–1. Sánchez was recalled by parent club Brighton in January 2019 to provide cover as Albion's

Mathew Ryan Mathew David Ryan (born 8 April 1992) is an Australian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Danish club F.C. Copenhagen and captains the Australia men's national soccer t ...

was called up for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for the

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

. He made 17 appearances for Forest Green that season, all coming in the league. On 24 July 2019, Sánchez joined

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on loan for the 2019–20 season. He made his debut for the club in a 3–2 away win over

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

Return to Brighton

On 1 November 2020, Sánchez made his Brighton debut, playing in a 2–1 defeat in a

match against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. On 23 February 2021, Sánchez signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract with Brighton, running until June 2025. Sánchez was sent off in the 1–1 home draw against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

on 6 November, in Brighton's eleventh match of the 2021–22 season, for fouling

Callum Wilson Callum Eddie Graham Wilson (born 27 February 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Newcastle United and the England national team. Early life Wilson was born in Coventry, West Midlands. H ...

who was within a goalscoring opportunity. He kept a clean sheet in the 4–0 win over

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on 7 May 2022, helping Brighton earn their record top flight victory, with his long-range pass providing a crucial role in

Pascal Groß Pascal Groß (, sometimes rendered in English as Gross; born 15 June 1991) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or defender for club Brighton & Hove Albion. Groß played at youth international level for Germany. Career ...

's goal. In the second half of the 2022–23 season Sánchez lost his number one spot to long standing back-up keeper Jason Steele with

Roberto De Zerbi Roberto De Zerbi (; born 6 June 1979) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of club Brighton & Hove Albion. Playing career De Zerbi started his professional career at AC Milan. He spent four season ...

saying "he is sad for Robert" stating he has "one of the best relationships" with the player.

International career

Sánchez was born in Spain to an English father and Spanish mother. Sánchez received his first call-up to the Spanish national team in March 2021, for

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tour ...

matches against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. He was selected to the Spain squad for the delayed

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

tournament in May 2021. Sánchez and

David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester United. During the mid-2010s, he was widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Born in Madrid ...

remained as understudies to

Unai Simón Unai Simón Mendibil (born 11 June 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao and the Spain national team. Club career Simón was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Basque Country, and ...

and did not make an appearance as Spain were knocked out on penalties against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the semi-final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on 6 July. He made his international debut on 5 September 2021, replacing Simón in the second half of a World Cup qualifier 4–0 win against Georgia in

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...

. Sánchez was part of Spain's

2021 UEFA Nations League Finals The 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2020–21 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the second season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UE ...

squad in October. He remained as back-up and did not make an appearance in either of the semi-final victory over Italy or the final loss against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as Spain finished as runners-up. On 11 November 2022, Sánchez was named in Spain's 26-man squad for the

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 ...

Style of play

Sánchez has said that he modelled himself on Spanish goalkeepers

Iker Casillas Iker Casillas Fernández (; born 20 May 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and currently works as a football commentator. Popularly dubbed "''San Iker''" ("Saint Iker") for his ability to produce spectac ...

and David de Gea.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Spain *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

runner-up:

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 ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Robert 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Cartagena, Spain Footballers from the Region of Murcia Spanish footballers Spain international footballers Spanish people of English descent Spanish people of Jamaican descent Association football goalkeepers Cartagena FC players Levante UD footballers Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England