Jordi Gómez García-Penche (born 24 May 1985) 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

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. After playing for the

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 ...

s of both

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and Espanyol, he went on to spend the majority of his career in England, mainly with

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

, with whom he won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 2013.

Club career

Early years

Born in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Gómez emerged through

's youth ranks, and played once for the first team in competitive games, coming on for

Thiago Motta Thiago Motta (; ; born 28 August 1982) is a professional Association football, football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Juventus FC, Juventus. A Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder, Mott ...

in the 68th minute of a 6–0 win against Zamora in the

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 ...

, on 11 January 2006. Gómez completed his development with neighbours Espanyol, and made his official debut with the latter in a 4–0 away defeat to

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

on 23 March 2008. He appeared in a further two

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 ...

matches during his tenure, always as a second-half substitute.

Swansea City

On 6 June 2008, Gómez signed for

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

of the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

on a

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-long

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

, for a fee of £200,000; teammate Albert Serrán also made the move, albeit in a permanent situation. He scored the winning goal with a deflected

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

against rivals

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

on 23 September, in the first South Wales derby for seven years. Gómez was described by scouts as having "a lovely ability to receive the ball in space or if he is marked tightly, find space after his first touch". Whilst on loan, reports surfaced that Swansea wanted to sign him permanently and other teams were supposedly interested in acquiring his services, but nothing came of it, as manager

Roberto Martínez Roberto Martínez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team. Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...

eventually announced the club would not be able to retain the player due to his high price tag.

Wigan Athletic

Gómez finished the season with 14 goals in all competitions and returned to Espanyol, being immediately sold to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

on a three-year contract on 19 June 2009, with the transfer fee estimated to be in the region of £1.7 million – the move also meant he would be reunited with former Swansea boss, countryman Martínez. He made his debut in a 2–0 victory over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

on 15 August, and netted his first goal for the club against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

on 5 December, albeit in a 2–3 home loss. Gómez scored his second league goal in a 2–0 defeat of

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

on 2 October 2010. However, during the match, he escaped suffering a

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element cap ...

injury after a challenge from

Karl Henry Karl Levi Daniel Henry (born 26 November 1982) is an English Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Boldmere St. Michaels F.C., Boldmere St. Michaels. Henry was a product of the Stoke City F.C., Stoke City academy who we ...

. On 17 December 2011, Gómez scored the equaliser for the hosts in a 1–1 draw against Chelsea, his fourth goal in five league games. He netted the second goal at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the eighth minute of an eventual 2–1 away win on 16 April 2012 at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...

, and the Latics once again managed to avoid relegation. On 28 August 2012, Gómez scored once as Wigan defeated

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

4–1 away to reach the third round of the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. On 24 November he netted 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 Wick ...

to help his club win 3–2 at home against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

at the

DW Stadium The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic association football, football club. The stadium is ...

, becoming just the second Spaniard to achieve the feat in the Premier League after

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He is the curr ...

. On 9 March 2013, Gómez provided the cross from which Maynor Figueroa opened the scoring at Everton, and he himself added the final 3–0 for his team's third goal in as many minutes, in an eventual qualification to the semi-finals of the

. He helped them win the competition, being replaced after 81 minutes by Ben Watson, who went on to score the winning goal; however, only three days later, with him on the pitch again, the side were relegated from the top division following a 1–4 away defeat to Arsenal. Gómez remained at Wigan for their first season back in the Championship, and also took part in the club's inaugural campaign in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. On 12 December 2013, in the last group stage match, he scored a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

to put his team ahead at

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, but the Slovene ultimately won 2–1.

Sunderland

On 29 May 2014, Gómez signed a three-year deal with

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

on a free transfer after his contract at Wigan expired. He made his debut on 16 August, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Jack Rodwell in a 2–2 draw away to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, and scored his first goal 11 days later August in a 3–0 League Cup second round victory at Birmingham City. Gómez scored his first league goal for his new team on 3 November, the second in a 3–1 away win over Crystal Palace. His third goal of the campaign came on 13 December, where he scored a penalty to open the scoring in a 1–1 draw at home to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. On 3 February 2015, Gómez netted another penalty in a 3–1 win at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in an FA Cup fourth round replay. On 2 May, again from 12 yards, he scored once in each half as the ''Black Cats'' defeated

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

2–1 at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. The ...

. The following week, his shot was deflected in by

Danny Graham Daniel Graham (born 1978) is an American football player. Daniel Graham may also refer to: * Bob Graham (born 1936), Daniel Robert Graham, American politician * Daniel O. Graham (1926–1995), American general and political activist * Danny Graha ...

to give the latter his first Sunderland goal, in a 2–0 away victory over Everton; still in that month, he was ruled out for the last three games of the season with a fractured kneecap. In the last minutes of the 2016 winter

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, after making only six appearances in the first half of the season, Gómez was loaned to Championship club

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

until June. He scored in his debut on 6 February, helping to a 1–1 draw at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. Three weeks later he netted twice, including a last-minute winner from a 30-yard free kick in a 3–2 win against Milton Keynes Dons at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

Three clubs in two years

On 17 August 2016, Gómez rejoined Wigan Athletic on a one-year contract. He returned to Spain after nearly nine years on 31 January 2017, signing with

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

of the

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 ...

. Gómez moved to Bulgarian club

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

on 6 July 2017, on a two-year deal.

Omonia

On 16 August 2018, Gómez joined Omonia of the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

on a two-year contract. Already as

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

, he agreed to extensions until 2021 and 2022. Gómez team was leading the 2019–20 championship when the season was abandoned due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

; although they were not awarded the title, they did secure a place in the qualifying rounds of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. The following campaign proved successful for team and player, as Gómez helped them qualify for the group stage of a European competition for the first time in history. On 29 October 2020, he scored a goal from inside his own half in a 2–1 home loss against PSV in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, breaking the record for the furthest distance for a goal ever scored in the competition. He ended the domestic league as a champion, Omonia's first in 11 years. On 25 November 2021, Gómez scored again from inside his own half in the 89th minute of a 2–2 away draw at Qarabağ in the Europa Conference League. The following February, he suffered a ruptured knee ligament which kept him out of action for several months. He scored his last goal for the club on 5 January in the 1–1 away draw against

Pafos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. It is the fourth-largest cit ...

, and in May it was announced that the 37-year-old would not be retained.

Later career

Gómez signed a one-year deal with

Cypriot Second Division The Cypriot Second Division () is the second highest association football, football division of the Cypriot football league system. Administered by the Cyprus Football Association, it is contested by 16 teams, with the top three teams being Prom ...

side PAC Omonia 29M in November 2022, effective as of the following 1 January.

Career statistics

Honours

Wigan Athletic *

: 2012–13 Omonia *

: 2020–21 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

: 2021–22 *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Individual *

Team of the Year: 2008–09 *

Player of the Year: 2013–14

References

External links

Levski Sofia official profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Jordi 1985 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Barcelona Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players FC Barcelona C players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Rayo Vallecano players Premier League players English Football League players Swansea City A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players PFC Levski Sofia players Cypriot First Division players Cypriot Second Division players AC Omonia players PAC Omonia 29M players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Wales Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Wales Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus