Roberto Eslava Suárez (born 22 January 1988) 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Born in

Telde Telde is a town and a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the eastern part of the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, overseas (Atlantic) insular Spain. It is the second most populous municipality on the island, with a population of (201 ...

, Eslava made his senior debut in the 2007–08 season with

UD Telde Unión Deportiva Telde is a Spanish football team based in Telde, eastern Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1965, it plays in ''Preferente Interinsular – Group 1'', holding home matches at '' Estadio Municip ...

in Tercera Division. He spent the following two seasons with

UD Las Palmas Atlético Las Palmas Atlético is the reserve team of UD Las Palmas, club based in Las Palmas, in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. They play in Tercera Federación – Group 12, holding home games at ''Anexo del Estadio Gran Canaria'', which ...

and

Universidad de Las Palmas CF Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1994 as Vegueta-Universidad, it was dissolved in 2011 due to insurmountable economic p ...

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 ...

, before returning to the fourth tier in 2011 with

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 ...

. In 2012, Eslava joined

Atlético Granadilla Atlético Granadilla is a semi-professional Spanish football team located in Granadilla de Abona, on the island of Tenerife in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. Founded in 1959, the club currently competes in Group 3 of the Interi ...

also in the fourth division. Although his team managed to reach the promotion play-offs, but was eliminated after losing to Gimnástica Segoviana. After a stint back at Marino, Eslava signed for

UD San Fernando Unión Deportiva San Fernando is a Spanish football team based in Maspalomas, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1992, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 4, holding home matches at '' Ciudad Deportiva de Maspalo ...

on 25 July 2015. On 2 October 2017, he moved to fellow league club

Unionistas de Salamanca CF Unionistas de Salamanca Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 2013, the club plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at ''Campo de Fútbol Re ...

, and helped the side achieve promotion to the third level. On 2 May 2018, Eslava moved abroad and joined Indian

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

club

Chennai City FC Chennai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, that last competed in the I-League, then one of the top flights of Indian football league system, and Chennai Football League. Established in ...

. He made his professional debut on 26 October, starting in a 4–1 home routing of

Indian Arrows Indian Arrows (formerly known as Pailan Arrows) was an Indian developmental football club that competed in the I-League. The club was formed by the All India Football Federation in 2010, with a main goal of nurturing young Indian football talen ...

. In that season, he helped the team winning the league. On 8 July 2020, Eslava returned to Spain and its third division, after agreeing to a contract with

CD Izarra Club Deportivo Izarra is a Spanish football team based in Estella-Lizarra, in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1924 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at ''Estadio Merkatondoa'', with a capacity o ...

. In January 2022, Eslava moved to

CD Mensajero Club Deportivo Mensajero is a Spanish football team based in Santa Cruz de la Palma, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 6 January 1922, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 4, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio S ...

. He left the club at the end of the 2021-22 season.

Honours

Club

;Chennai City FC *

: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eslava, Roberto 1988 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers People from Telde Footballers from the Province of Las Palmas Men's association football defenders Segunda División B players Tercera División players UD Las Palmas Atlético players Universidad de Las Palmas CF footballers CD Marino players Unionistas de Salamanca CF players CD Izarra footballers I-League players Chennai City FC players CD Mensajero players Expatriate men's footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India