Erik Alexander Expósito Hernández (born 23 June 1996) 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 lea ...

who plays as 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) ** Smal ...

for

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

club Al Ahli.

Club career

Born in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife (; locally ), commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz, is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and one of the capitals of the Canary Islands, along with Las Palmas. Santa Cruz has a ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, Expósito joined

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

's youth setup in January 2015, after stints at AJ Unión La Paz, CD Verdellada, CD Paracuellos, Atlético Barranco Hondo and ADM Lorquí. He made his debut with the reserves on 27 September of that year, coming on as a substitute for goalscorer Kuki Zalazar in a 5–0

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

home routing of Atarfe Industrial CF. On 2 January 2016, he was loaned to fellow fourth tier club

Deportivo Rayo Cantabria Deportivo Rayo Cantabria was a Spanish football team based in Santander, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded in 1993 it last played in Tercera División – Group 3, holding home games at the Campo Municipal Mies de Cozada sports ...

, until June. After appearing regularly he moved to another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

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 , holding home games at ''Anexo del Estadio Gran Canaria'', which holds 2,000 spectators. The te ...

in the same division on 18 July. On 26 April 2017, Expósito made his

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

– and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

– debut, starting in a 3–0 away loss against

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

. On 16 June, he was promoted to the main squad ahead of the 2017–18 campaign. Expósito scored his first professional goal on 5 March 2018, netting the opener in a 2–1 loss at

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, 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), the club was fou ...

. He contributed with ten first-team appearances during the campaign, as his side suffered relegation. On 31 August 2018, Expósito was loaned to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

, for one year. The following 25 January, after being rarely used, his loan was cut short. Expósito moved abroad on 27 June 2019, signing a three-year deal with Polish

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (), is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Wrocław that plays in , the second level of the Polish football leagu ...

after his Las Palmas contract expired. On 21 September, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–4 home draw against local rivals

Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Lubin. Founded in 1945 as ''OMTUR Lubin'', the club competes in the Ekstraklasa. History The football team was founded in 1945 as OMTUR Lubin by lo ...

. After finishing the 2021–22 and 2022–23 campaigns in the last spot safe from relegation, Expósito, as the club's captain, led Śląsk to a second-place finish in the

2023–24 Ekstraklasa The 2023–24 Ekstraklasa (also known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski) was the 98th season of List of Polish football champions, the Polish Football Championship, the 90th season of Sp ...

. He ended the season with 19 goals in 33 league appearances, making him the league's best goalscorer. For his efforts, he was named the Ekstraklasa Forward of the Season. On 7 June 2024, he confirmed he would be leaving the club at the end of the month once his contract expires. On 11 June 2024, it was announced he would join Qatari side

Umm Salal Umm Salal (; also spelled Umm Slal) is a municipalities of Qatar, municipality in the State of Qatar. Historic landmarks such as the Barzan Tower are located in Umm Salal.The municipal headquarters is located in Umm Salal Ali, about 10 km ...

on 1 July that year. However, the deal was cancelled shortly after, and Expósito became a free agent on 30 June. Expósito would continue his career in Qatar after all; on 4 July 2024, he joined Al Ahli on a three-year deal.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

top scorer: 2023–24 * Ekstraklasa Forward of the Season: 2023–24 * Ekstraklasa Player of the Month: August 2023, September 2023, October 2023 * Polish Union of Footballers' Ekstraklasa Team of the Season: 2023–24

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Exposito, Erik 1996 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Santa Cruz de Tenerife Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Ekstraklasa players Qatar Stars League players Atlético Malagueño players Deportivo Rayo Cantabria players UD Las Palmas Atlético players UD Las Palmas players Córdoba CF players Śląsk Wrocław players Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar 21st-century Spanish sportsmen