Javier Galán Gil (born 19 November 1994) 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 a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

left wing-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

left winger 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. ...

for club

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

Career

Early career

Born in

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...

, Galán represented CD San Roque Badajoz, CP Don Bosco and CP Flecha Negra as a youth. On 20 June 2013, after scoring 12 goals for the latter's ''Juvenil A'' squad, he moved to

CD Badajoz Club Deportivo Badajoz is a Spanish football team based in Badajoz, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1905, it currently plays in , and holds home games at '' Estadio Nuevo Vivero'', with a 15,198-seat capacity. History Fo ...

. Galán made his senior debut on 15 September 2013, playing the last 30 minutes in a 1–0 home win against CD Solana for the ''Regional Preferente'' championship. He scored his first senior goal fourteen days later, netting the last in a 4–1 home routing of EF Emérita Augusta. Galán helped the ''Blanquinegros'' in their promotion to

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 ...

during his first campaign.

Córdoba

On 9 July 2015, Galán joined

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 ...

, being assigned to the reserves also in the fourth tier. Upon arriving, he became an immediate first choice for the B's. Galán made his professional debut on 12 October 2016, starting as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

in a 2–1

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

away win against

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

. He made his

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 ...

debut on 4 December, starting in a 2–1 win at

CF Reus Deportiu Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Reus, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it last competed in the Segunda Division (while its B team competed in the Tercera Division) before ...

. On 12 December 2016, Galán renewed his contract until 2020. Five days later he scored his first professional goal, netting the first in a 2–1 win at

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

. Galán was an undisputed starter during the 2017–18 campaign; converted to a

by manager Jorge Romero, he went on to score two goals in 40 appearances as his side narrowly avoided relegation.

Huesca

On 29 January 2019, Galan moved to

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 ...

side

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut in the top tier on 1 February, starting in a 4–0 home routing of

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 ...

. Galán immediately became a regular starter for the side, suffering relegation in his first season but immediately bouncing back as champions in his second. He scored his first goal in the top tier on 6 February 2021, netting the opener in a 1–2 home loss to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Celta

On 31 July 2021, after suffering another relegation with Huesca, Galán signed a five-year contract with

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 ...

in the top tier.

Atlético Madrid

On 3 July 2023, Galán signed a contract until June 2026 with fellow La Liga club

Real Sociedad (loan)

On 24 January 2024, Atlético Madrid sent Galán on loan to fellow La Liga club

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

until the end of the 2023–24 season.

Personal life

Galán is physically likened to England international forward

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

, with his nickname being ''Rooney'' during his youth career and Badajoz.

Career statistics

Honours

Huesca *

: 2019–20

Notes

References

External links

Profile
at the Atlético Madrid website * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Galan, Javier 1994 births Living people Footballers from Badajoz Spanish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players CD Badajoz players Córdoba CF B players Córdoba CF players SD Huesca footballers RC Celta de Vigo players Atlético Madrid footballers Real Sociedad footballers 21st-century Spanish sportsmen