Saúl Crespo Prieto (born 23 July 1996), commonly known as Saúl, 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 ...

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 ...

club

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

Club career

Saúl was born in Sonarpur

Ponferrada Ponferrada () is a city of Spain, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Ponferrada, the second most populated municipality of the Province of León, is also the capital city of El Bierzo, the only Comarcas of Spain, ''comarca'' ...

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

, Asansol and joined

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Primera Federación - Group 1, holding home ma ...

's youth setup in 2010. On 12 August 2015, after finishing his formation, he was loaned to

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 ...

side

Atlético Astorga FC Atlético Astorga Fútbol Club is a Spanish football team based in Astorga in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1944, it plays in the . Its stadium is '' Estadio La Eragudina'' with a capacity of 3,000 seats. History In A ...

for the season. Saúl made his senior debut on 19 September 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 away draw against

UD Logroñés Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in , holding home matches at ''Estad ...

. On 16 September, he signed a professional contract with ''Ponfe'' for three seasons. Saúl scored his first goal on 10 April 2016, netting the equalizer in a 1–2 loss at

CD Guijuelo Club Deportivo Guijuelo is a Spanish football team based in Guijuelo, Province of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1974 it plays in , holding home games at the 1,500-seat '' Estadio Municipal de Guijuelo''. ...

; he finished the campaign with 25 appearances, as his team suffered relegation. On 8 August, he moved to fellow third division side

Arandina CF Arandina Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Aranda de Duero, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1987, it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio El Montecillo'', with a capacity of 6,000 seats. Hist ...

, also in a temporary deal. Saúl returned to his parent club in July 2017, and was definitely assigned to the main squad. On 14 June of the following year, he renewed his contract with the club, and contributed with one goal in 30 appearances in 2018–19 as his 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 three years. Saúl made his professional debut on 18 August 2019, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Yuri de Souza Yuri de Souza Fonseca (born 8 August 1982), known simply as Yuri, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a forward. He also held Portuguese citizenship, and spent the majority of his professional career in Portugal and Spain, mainly wit ...

in a 1–3 away loss 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 ...

Odisha

In July 2022, Saúl moved abroad for the first time, signing a one-year contract with

club

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

. On 17 August, Saúl made his debut for the club against

NorthEast United NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded on ...

in the

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

, in a thumping 6–0 win. Six days later, he scored his first goal for the club against

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of football in India. The club was esta ...

which ended in 2–0 win.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Odisha *

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

East Bengal *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crespo, Saul 1996 births Living people People from Ponferrada Footballers from the Province of León Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Segunda División players Segunda División B players SD Ponferradina players Atlético Astorga FC players Arandina CF players Odisha FC players East Bengal Club players Indian Super League players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate men's footballers in India 21st-century Spanish sportsmen