Lucas Villafáñez

Lucas Villafáñez
Personal information
Full name Lucas Martín Villafáñez
Date of birth (1991-10-04) 4 October 1991
Place of birth Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, Argentina
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder / Winger
Club information
Current team
 Alanyaspor
Number 18
Youth career
C.A.I.
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2010 C.A.I. 55 (11)
2010–2011 → Independiente (loan) 8 (2)
2011–2016 Independiente 23 (0)
2013–2014 → Huracán (loan) 20 (2)
2014–2016 → Panetolikos (loan) 38 (11)
2016–2018 Panathinaikos 53 (9)
2018– Alanyaspor 15 (1)
National team
2011 Argentina U-20 1 (1)
2011 Argentina U-22 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 May 2018

Lucas Martín Villafáñez (locally [biʃafaɲes]; born 4 October 1991) is an Argentine-Greek attacking midfielder who plays for Turkish Football club Alanyaspor.

Club career

Villafáñez made his professional debut in the Primera B Nacional (Argentine second division) with his hometown club Comisión de Actividades Infantiles, when he was 16 years old. In total he played 57 games with the club, scoring 12 goals.

In 2010, Independiente acquired the player on a one-year loan deal. He debuted in the Argentine Primera División on a 0–1 defeat to Tigre for the 2010 Apertura, despite the game being played in February 2011.[1]

On May 2, 2011 Villafáñez scored his first goal with Independiente, in a 1–1 draw with Boca Juniors.[2] In summer 2013, the hitch that had a contract until June 2014 and would not be taken into account by Miguel Angel Brindisi was asked by Antonio Mohamed after his arrival in Huracán F.C. and eventually will be signing with the "Globe". After several days of negotiation and obstacles, finally decided that Lucas Villafáñez will go on loan to Huracán F.C. for the 2013/14 season.[3][4] On August 1, 2014 Villafáñez signed a two years' contract with Panetolikos on loan from Independiente playing in Greek Super League,[5] along with his ex-Independiente teammates Fernando Godoy and Nicolás Martinez brother of Boca Juniors' striker Juan Manuel Martinez.[6]

On 10 December 2015, AEK Athens have added Panaitolikos attacking midfielder Lucas Villafanez into their shortlist. AEK are looking to add a forward in the January transfer window and Villafanez is among their options to reinforce the squad. No official contact has been made as yet, however it is believed that AEK manager Gus Poyet is interested in his services.[7] On 24 January 2016, thanks to close-range effort by Argentine midfielder Villafanez at the beginning of the game, Panetolikos won 1-0 Veria and scooped its first away victory since August 2015. [8]

Panathinaikos

On 27 January 2016 Panathinaikos bought the player's right from Independiente, so from the summer of 2016, Lucas Villafanez belongs to the "Greens". Although, Panetolikos wanted to make a profit form the player's transfer and gave him to Panathinaikos from 1 February.[9] On 6 March 2016, he scored his first goal with the club in a 2-0 home win against Atromitos.[10] Panathinaikos' attacking midfielder Lucas Martín Villafáñez has attracted transfer interest from European clubs ahead of 2016 January transfer window. The current contract of 25-year-old Argentine, who joined the Greens from Panaitolikos in January 2016 and has made some solid performances with their shirt since then, expires at summer of 2019. On 28 October 2017, thanks to a close-range effort by the Argentinian attacking midfielder, Panathinaikos won 1-0 at Super League derby clash against champions Olympiacos.[11] On mid November, according to news, Panathinaikos ace Villafanez has been offered to Serie A and Primera Division clubs, as Panathinaikos are struggling with financial problems and the latest name to be linked with a move away from the Greens. On 7 January 2018, Marinos Ouzounidis’ team, who had last tasted victory in the SuperLeague back on October 28 with a 1-0 derby win over Olympiacos, finally stopped the rot in the first game of 2018 thanks to a pair of penalties from the Argentinian midfielder in a 2-0 win home game against Platanias [12]

On 14 January 2018, according to "Foot Mercato", the difficult financial framework in which Panathinaikos is trying to survive, imposed for players' transfers. The Argentinian winger according to the French website, has been proposed to three Ligue 1 clubs, namely Nantes, Saint-Étienne and Toulouse for the January transfer window on a loan basis till the end of the season with a purchase option in the range of €2 million for the summer of 2018.[13] However, despite the player's value, the lack of EU passport is an obstacle for many clubs.

Villafáñez left the club having 73 appearances (10 goals, 13 assists) in all competitions.

Alanyaspor

On 23 January 2018, Turkish club Alanyaspor is initially offered to the financially struggling Greens €800.000 in order to purchase the 26-year-old player. In a possible transfer he will meet another two Greek internationals Giorgos Tzavellas and Giannis Maniatis.[14] According to various sources, the transfer could be set in the range of €1.1 million, while the player has agreed with for a 2.5-years' contract, with annual earnings levelled to €800,000 per year.[15] After three days of negotiations, Panathinaikos agreed with Alanyaspor for a total transfer amount of €1.2 million. The financial struggling Greens will receive a net amount of €900.000, as Villafanez ex-club Panetolikos retains a 10% resale rate, while from the total transfer amount Panathinaikos will cover his debt both to the player's rights from Independiente and his annual delayed salary.[16][17] On 27 January 2018, two days after his arrival, he made his debut with the club as a starter in a 3-1 home win game against Alanyaspor. On 18 May 2018, in the last matchday of the season he scored his first goal with the club in a 3-2 home win game against Antalyaspor.

Greek Passport

In 2014, Lucas started the procedure in order to claim the Greek citizenship, due to his great-grandfather who was from Piraeus, in order to be eligible for the Greek national football team. On December 2017, he was in the final stages for acquiring the citizenship and will be available for the Greek national football team, but coach Michael Skibbe has not confirmed if he will call-up Villafañez.

International career

Villafáñez was part of Sergio Batista's Argentina's U-20 national team in 2010. In 2011, he was selected to represent Argentina at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Villafanez also, expressed his desire to play for Greece National Football Team, through his maternal great-grandfather, who was born at Piraeus.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Opening '10 statistics". Argentine Soccer. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
  2. ↑ "Boca igualó con Independiente y ambos siguen lejos" (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 2011-05-02. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
  3. ↑ "Lucas Villafáñez se va a Huracán" (in Spanish). elrojoesmipasion.com.
  4. ↑ "Lucas Villafañez nuevo jugador de Huracán" (in Spanish). cahuracan.com. 2013-08-02.
  5. ↑ ΜΠΑΜ με Βιγιαφάνιες ο Παναιτωλικός (in Greek). allsportsagrinio.gr. 2014-07-31.
  6. ↑ "LOS ARGENTINOS PARRA Y VILLAFAÑEZ SE SUMAN AL FUTBOL GRIEGO" (in Spanish). elcomercial.com.ar. 2013-08-01.
  7. ↑ "AEK monitoring Villafanez". www.sdna.gr. 10 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "Panaitolikos leave Veria victorious". www.sdna.gr. 24 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Κωστούλας: Τα βρήκε με Ιντεπεντιέντε ο Παναθηναϊκός για Βιγιαφάνιες-Panathinaikos agreed with Independiente for Villafañez". www.sport24.gr. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  10. ↑ "Panathinaikos beat Atromitos at Leto's return". www.sdna.gr. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "Με Βιγιαφάνιες ο Παναθηναϊκός 1-0 τον Ολυμπιακό". www.sport24.gr. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  12. ↑ "Παναθηναϊκός - Πλατανιάς 2-0". www.gazzetta.gr. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  13. ↑ ""Προτάθηκε σε Ναντ, Σεντ-Ετιέν και Τουλούζ ο Βιγιαφάνιες"". www.sport24.gr. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  14. ↑ "ALANYASPOR, 10 NUMARA TRANSFERİ YAPIYOR! HASAN ÇAVUŞOĞLU AÇIKLADI". turkfutbol.com. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  15. ↑ "Ετοιμάζει βαλίτσες ο Βιγιαφάνιες". www.sport24.gr. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  16. ↑ "Οριστικό: με 1,2 εκατ. ευρώ στην Αλάνιασπορ ο Βιγιαφάνιες". www.sport24.gr. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  17. ↑ "Villafanez, Aytemiz Alanyaspor'da". www.hurriyet.com.tr. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  18. ↑ "Villafanez: "I am dreaming of playing for Greece National Team"". www.sdna.gr. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
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