Jaime Gavilán Martínez (born 12 May 1985) is a former 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

left midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He amassed

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 ...

totals of 203 games and 11 goals over the course of 12 seasons, representing mainly in the competition

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

Club career

Valencia

Born in

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

, Gavilán was a

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

youth product. He made his first-team – and

– debut one month shy of his 18th birthday, playing 12 minutes in a 0–1 away defeat against

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

on 19 April 2003. He also spent two full seasons with the reserves, in the third division. Gavilán was gradually breaking into the main squad after two loans (

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

– second level – and

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

), even though he had to battle for that position with the gifted (although tremendously injury-prone) Vicente. However, after the arrival of new boss

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Koeman scor ...

in November 2007, he was deemed surplus to requirements and was loaned again to Getafe, until the end of the season; the previous campaign, he suffered a serious knee

ligament A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...

injury which kept him out of action for a period of six months. In his second spell with the

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

outskirts side, Gavilán appeared prominently during half a season, netting in a 2–1 home win over Racing de Santander on 16 March 2008. He was also part of the team's quarter-final run in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, playing in three matches, all as a starter.

Getafe

On 15 July 2008, Gavilán signed a four-year deal with Getafe, thus losing all ties to Valencia. During his first full season he was an everpresent midfield fixture and, on 12 April 2009, he scored the game's only goal in an important win at

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

. In 2009–10, Gavilán featured in 27 league games (no goals) as Getafe qualified for the second time ever for Europe, after finishing in sixth position. On 6 March 2011, in the last minutes of the first half of a 0–2 away defeat against

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

, he suffered the same injury to his knee, being sidelined for the rest of the campaign.

Levante

Free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Gavilán joined fellow top division club

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

in June 2014, signing a two-year contract with an option to extend for a further year. On 30 January 2015, after appearing in only six competitive matches, he severed his link.

Abroad

After a brief spell in Greece with Platanias FC, Gavilán signed for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

side Atlético de Kolkata on 18 June 2015. Subsequently, he represented South Korea's Suwon FC before returning to India with Chennaiyin FC.

Alcorcón

On 6 July 2018, 33-year-old Gavilán returned to Spain after agreeing to a two-year contract with AD Alcorcón in the second division. On 9 July of the following year, after appearing in only eight league matches, he terminated his contract.

Sanse

On 10 August 2019 UD San Sebastián de los Reyes announced, that they had signed Gavilán.

International career

In the run up to the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, Luis Aragonés called up Gavilán to a Spain senior team get-together, however he was ultimately not part of the squad at the finals and never earned a full

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

Club statistics

Honours

Club

;Chennaiyin *

: 2017–18

International

;Spain U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

;Spain U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

;Spain U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

: Runner-up

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gavilan, Jaime 1985 births Living people Footballers from Valencia Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Valencia CF players CD Tenerife players Getafe CF footballers Levante UD footballers AD Alcorcón footballers UD San Sebastián de los Reyes players Super League Greece players Platanias F.C. players Indian Super League players ATK (football club) players Chennaiyin FC players K League 1 players Suwon FC players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in India Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in South Korea 21st-century Spanish sportsmen