Rubén Rochina Naixes (born 23 March 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 lea ...

who plays as a winger or a forward. He began his professional career with Barcelona B before joining

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 ...

in 2011, spending three years with the club that included two loan spells, at

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

and

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 ...

Club career

Barcelona

Born in

Sagunto Sagunto () is a municipality of Spain, located in the province of Valencia, Valencian Community. It belongs to the modern fertile ''comarca'' of Camp de Morvedre. It is located approximately north of the city of Valencia, close to the Costa ...

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 ...

, Rochina arrived at

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

's youth system at the age of 13, after starting his development with local

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 ...

. Whilst still a junior, he appeared in 13 games for Barcelona's reserves in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

, playing three times (117 minutes) in the 2009–10 season as

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is the manager of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playin ...

's side returned 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 ...

after an 11-year absence.

Blackburn Rovers

On 31 January 2011, without having appeared for Barcelona's first team, Rochina joined

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 ...

team

on a four-year deal. On 11 February, he scored twice for the reserves against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

's reserves in a 4–4 draw. On 16 April 2011, Rochina made his league debut for his new club, starting in a 2–0 loss at Everton. On 24 August he scored his first competitive goal for Rovers, just five minutes into the League Cup match against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, and added a second in the 3–1 home win. Rochina scored his first league goal for Blackburn on 11 September, in a 1–1 away draw to

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 the next game he provided an assist in a 4–3 home victory over

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 ...

, and appeared in 18 matches during the campaign as the team was relegated. On 1 September 2012, Rochina scored a back-heeled goal to equalise six minutes from time in a 3–3 away draw against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. He spent the second half of the campaign on loan at

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

. He made his

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 on 3 February 2013 as a 74th-minute substitute in a 1–1 away draw with

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 ...

, and scored his first goal in the competition on 27 April to help defeat

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

3–2 at La Romareda, as the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

ese eventually suffered relegation after finishing bottom. On the opening day of the 2013–14 Championship season, Rochina dislocated his shoulder during the fixture against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. After surgery, he missed the next three months of the campaign, and on 20 January 2014 he returned to the Spanish top flight on loan, this time to

. His first appearance came six days later, in a 2–4 home loss to

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 ...

in which he played 34 minutes.

Granada

On 3 August 2014, Rochina signed a four-year deal with

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

for an undisclosed fee. He scored two goals in his first year, the second being a 50-meter lob in a 3–0 away win over

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, ...

. Rochina netted six times in 2015–16 as ''Los Nazaríes'' again avoided relegation, including a late equaliser for a 2–2 draw in the Derby of eastern Andalusia away to

on 28 November 2015.

Rubin Kazan

On 20 July 2016, Rochina moved abroad for a second time when

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

side

FC Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded 1958 in Russia, in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003 Russia ...

triggered his €10 million release clause and offered to treble his wages – Blackburn were due 15% of the receipt. He returned to his homeland on 31 January 2018, joining

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– ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Levante

Following his loan, Rochina signed a three-year contract with Levante on 4 July 2018. He scored four league goals in each of his first two seasons.

Later career

Rochina returned to Granada in August 2021, for a €10 million fee. Bothered by several injury problems, he suffered top-tier relegation at the end of 2021–22 but achieved promotion the following campaign, contributing only eight appearances to this feat. On 8 February 2024, following a trial at

FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda FC DAC 1904 is a Slovak professional association football, football club based in Dunajská Streda which competes in the Slovak First Football League. In the 2007–08 season, they were the west group champions of the Slovak Third League. In the ...

from Slovakia, the 32-year-old Rochina joined Primera Federación club

CD Atlético Baleares Club Deportivo Atlético Baleares, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Palma de Mallorca, Palma, the capital of the Mallorca, island of Mallorca, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Foun ...

International career

Rochina was capped for Spain at under-17, under-18 and under-19 levels, for a total of 17

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and eight goals. With the first of those age groups, he won the

2008 UEFA European Championship The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

in Turkey.

Career statistics

Honours

Granada *

: 2022–23 Spain U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 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, ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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 ...

runner-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rochina, Ruben 1991 births Living people People from Sagunto Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Valencia Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Primera Federación players FC Barcelona Atlètic players Real Zaragoza players Rayo Vallecano players Granada CF footballers Levante UD footballers CD Atlético Baleares footballers Premier League players English Football League players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Russian Premier League players FC Rubin Kazan players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Russia 21st-century Spanish sportsmen