Samuel Sáiz Alonso (born 22 January 1991) 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 an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

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 ...

for Turkish club Eyüpspor. He spent most of his career in the Spanish lower leagues, amassing

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 ...

totals of 165 games and 23 goals with Huesca and

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

after signing with the former club at the age of 24. 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 ...

, he appeared in 11 matches for Getafe over two separate spells and eight for

, and also spent one and a half years in the English Championship with Leeds United.

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Sáiz arrived in

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 system at the age of eight. He made his senior debut late into 2008–09 – one game – as

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 following ...

competed in the

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 ...

. In the following season, spent in the same level, he contributed more solidly, but they could only rank in eighth position, thus failing to reach the promotion playoff stage. For the 2010–11 campaign, Sáiz was loaned to

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

's reserves also in division three, in a season-long move. In 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 ...

, however, he returned to Real Madrid, being assigned to its C side in the

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 ...

Melilla and Getafe

On 17 August 2011, Sáiz returned to the third tier and joined

UD Melilla Unión Deportiva Melilla is a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Melilla. Founded in 1976, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 5, holding home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro'', with a 8,000 c ...

, with Real retaining a buyback option on the player. Late into the following

, however, he terminated his contract and signed with

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

's reserves in the same league. He made his first-team – and

– debut on 1 April 2012, coming on as a substitute for

Jaime Gavilán Jaime Gavilán Martínez (born 12 May 1985) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left midfielder for UD San Sebastián de los Reyes. He amassed La Liga totals of 203 games and 11 goals over the course of 12 seasons, representing ...

for the last 12 minutes of a 3–0 away loss against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

Almería and Atlético

Sáiz signed with

UD Almería B Unión Deportiva Almería "B" is a Spanish football team based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2001, it is the reserve team of UD Almería and currently plays in Tercera Federación – Group 9, holding home game ...

on 8 July 2013. In January of the following year he moved teams again, joining Atlético Madrid B also in the third division. Occasionally called for training with Atlético's main squad under manager Diego Simeone, Sáiz was also an unused substitute in a league match against

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 ...

Huesca

On 5 August 2015, Sáiz joined SD Huesca from

in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-long move. He scored his first professional goal 17 days later, but in a 3–2 home defeat to

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

. He netted a further two times in his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

, from 30 overall appearances. Sáiz signed a permanent contract with the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

ese club in late March 2016, until June 2018. In the following campaign he scored a career-best 12 goals, as his team was ousted in the promotion play-offs.

Leeds United

On 10 July 2017, Huesca and Leeds United reached an agreement for the transfer of Sáiz. Three days later, the latter club announced the signing of a four-year contract after a successful medical. He made his competitive debut on 9 August, scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 4–1 victory over

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

; in doing so, he became their first player to achieve the feat in his first game since

Carl Shutt Carl Steven Shutt (born 10 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer who made 338 appearances in the Football League and Premier League playing as a striker. Playing career Shutt's league career started at the relatively la ...

in 1989. His first Championship appearance took place three days later, in a 0–0 home draw against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. Sáiz opened his league scoring account on 19 August 2017, contributing to the 2–0 win at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. The following 7 January, he was involved in an off-the-ball incident and was shown a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

for allegedly spitting at an opposition player during the 2–1 defeat to Newport County in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. He returned from his six-match suspension on 21 February in a 2–2 draw against Derby County, providing an

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

for

Ezgjan Alioski Ezgjan Alioski ( mk, Езѓан Алиоски; born 12 February 1992) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a winger or wing-back for Turkish Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe on loan from Saudi club Al-Ahli and the North Macedonia ...

. After ending the season with nine goals and seven assists, Sáiz was nominated as one of four players for Leeds' Player of The Year award on 16 April 2018. For the following campaign, he was given the number 14 shirt. On 17 December 2018, Sáiz was loaned to his former club Getafe for six months. He made his debut on 6 January 2019, playing 16 minutes in a 2–1 home loss against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. He scored his first goal in the Spanish top flight on 28 April, but in a defeat at

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

by the same scoreline.

Girona

Sáiz joined

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 ...

on 18 July 2019, for an undisclosed fee. He contributed three goals from 40 games in the 2021–22 season, in a return to the top tier after three years; on 1 April 2022, however, as he was being replaced in the first half of the league fixture against

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, ...

(eventual 1–0 home win), he called manager Míchel a "clown" and threw away his shirt. On 27 January 2023, Sáiz left the Estadi Montilivi after 120 official matches and 12 goals.

Sivasspor

Sáiz signed a year-and-a-half contract with Sivasspor of the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

immediately after leaving Girona.

International career

Sáiz represented Spain at under-19 level.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saiz, Samuel 1991 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Madrid C footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Sevilla Atlético players UD Melilla footballers Getafe CF B players Getafe CF footballers UD Almería B players Atlético Madrid B players SD Huesca footballers Girona FC players English Football League players Leeds United F.C. players Süper Lig players Sivasspor footballers Eyüpspor footballers TFF First League players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey