Samuel "Samu" García Sánchez (born 13 July 1990) is a Spanish former 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 played as a

right winger 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 ...

or 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 totalled 104 games and 11 goals in

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 ...

over five seasons, representing

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 ...

(two stints),

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popul ...

and Levante. He also played in Russia with

Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (russian: Футбо́льный клуб Руби́н Каза́нь, ''Futbolny klub Rubin Kazan'' , Tatar: Рубин Казан) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the second-tier ...

Club career

Born in

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 ...

, García played his first years as a senior with UD Dos Hermanas San Andrés and

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

team

CD Alhaurino Club Deportivo Alhaurino is a Spanish football team based in Alhaurín el Grande, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1908 it plays in Tercera División, holding home matches at ''Estadio Miguel Fijones'', with a capacity of 1,500 ...

, before joining

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

's reserves in 2010 and going on to compete several seasons at that level with the club. In 2004, at the age of 14, he was signed by

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the

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 ...

, but returned to his hometown after only three months after failing to adjust. In the summer of 2013, García was called to the first team by newly appointed manager

Bernd Schuster Bernd Schuster (born 22 December 1959) is a German former professional footballer of the late 1970s through early 1990s, who won club titles playing for the Spanish sides FC Barcelona (1980–1987) and Real Madrid (1988–1990). He played as a m ...

. He signed his first professional contract shortly after, keeping him at the

La Rosaleda Stadium Estadio La Rosaleda (; literally The Rose Garden) is a football stadium in the city of Málaga, in Andalucia, southern Spain. It is the home stadium of Málaga CF in Segunda División and was previously that of the Club Deportivo Málaga, of wh ...

until June 2016. García made his official debut with Málaga's main squad on 17 August 2013, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1−0

away loss against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

. He scored his first goal on 3 November, playing less than ten minutes and netting in the 93rd minute of a 3−2

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

home win over

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 ...

. Both García and his Málaga teammate

Samu Castillejo Samuel "Samu" Castillejo Azuaga (born 18 January 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Sassuolo, on loan from Valencia. Club career Málaga Castillejo was born in Barcelona, Catalonia where his father, a Gua ...

joined

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 ...

on 18 June 2015, signing a five-year deal. On 30 June of the following year, the former transferred to

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

club

FC Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (russian: Футбо́льный клуб Руби́н Каза́нь, ''Futbolny klub Rubin Kazan'' , Tatar language, Tatar: Рубин Казан) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in the city o ...

alongside coach

Javi Gracia Javier "Javi" Gracia Carlos (; born 1 May 1970) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He played 430 matches both major levels of Spanish football combined, in a 15-year professional career. Afte ...

. On 19 January 2017, García joined

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded on 23 June 1928. It holds home games at ...

on loan until the end of the top-flight season. On 24 August, he signed a three-year contract with

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 ...

in the same league but, the following

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, returned to Málaga on a five-month loan. García left Levante on 14 January 2019. In December 2020, he revealed in his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account that he had already decided to retire previous to that.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Samu 1990 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Málaga Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards La Liga players Tercera División players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Villarreal CF players CD Leganés players Levante UD footballers Russian Premier League players FC Rubin Kazan players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Russia