Carles Aleñá

Carles Aleñá Castillo (born 5 January 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Real Betis on loan from Barcelona.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Aleñá and the second or maternal family name is Castillo.
Carles Aleñá
Aleñá with Barcelona B in 2017
Personal information
Full name Carles Aleñá Castillo[1]
Date of birth (1998-01-05) 5 January 1998
Place of birth Mataró, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Central midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Betis (on loan from Barcelona)
Number 24
Youth career
2005–2016 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Barcelona B 83 (18)
2016– Barcelona 24 (2)
2020– → Betis (loan) 11 (0)
National team‡
2013 Spain U16 3 (0)
2013–2015 Spain U17 16 (3)
2015–2017 Spain U19 13 (2)
2019– Spain U21 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:00, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 September 2019

Club career

Barcelona

Born in Mataró, Barcelona, Catalonia, Aleñá moved to FC Barcelona's youth system, La Masia, in 2005 at the age of 7, after a successful trial.[2][3] Highly rated by the club,[4][5] he made his debut with the reserves on 29 August 2015, coming on as a late substitute for David Babunski in a 0–0 Segunda División B home draw against CF Pobla de Mafumet.[6]

On 24 November 2015, Aleñá scored a spectacular goal in a UEFA Youth League game against Roma.[7] He scored his first senior goal on 19 December, in a Barcelona B 2–4 away loss to CD Eldense.[8]

Aleñá was first included in Barcelona's main squad on 10 February 2016,[9] remaining an unused substitute in their 1–1 away draw against Valencia CF in the second leg of Copa del Rey semi-finals.[10] He made his first team debut on 30 November of that year, starting and scoring the equalizer in an away draw against Hércules CF for the same scoreline, in the same competition.[11]

Aleñá made his La Liga debut on 2 April 2017, coming on as a second-half substitute for Ivan Rakitić in a 4–1 away routing of Granada CF.[12] On 28 June, he signed a three-year professional deal with Barcelona, including a release clause of €75 million.[13] In July 2018, he was nominated for the prestigious Golden Boy award. On 4 December 2018, Aleñá was officially promoted to the first team, two days after scoring his first league goal for Barcelona against Villarreal CF.

loan to Real Betis

On 28 December 2019, Barcelona announced that they had reached an agreement with Real Betis for the loan transfer of Aleñá until the end of the season.[14]

Personal life

Aleñá's father, named Francesc, was also a footballer. A forward, he played for several clubs in the 1980s and 1990s.[15]

Career statistics
As of 20 June 2020[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Copa del Rey Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Barcelona B 2015–16 Segunda División B 141—141
2016–17 233—6[lower-alpha 1]0293
2017–18 Segunda División 3811—3811
2018–19 Segunda División B 83—83
Total 8318—608918
Barcelona 2016–17 La Liga 3011000041
2017–18 0030000030
2018–19 172703000272
2019–20 4000100050
Total 2421114000393
Betis (loan) 2019–20 La Liga 11020—130
Career total 11720131406014121
  1. All appearances in Segunda División B play-offs

Honours

Barcelona

References
  1. "Acta del Partido celebrado el 12 de mayo de 2019, en Barcelona" [Minutes of the Match held on 12 May 2019, in Barcelona] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  2. Carles Aleñá, uno de los elegidos (Carles Aleñá, one of the chosen); Mundo Deportivo, 14 September 2015 (in Spanish)
  3. Carles Aleñá, una excepción (Carles Aleñá, an exception); Mundo Deportivo, 5 April 2017 (in Spanish)
  4. Aleñá, el Maradona de la cantera (Aleñá, the Maradona of the youth system); Mundo Deportivo, 27 September 2012 (in Spanish)
  5. Así es Carles Aleñá, la nueva perla de la cantera azulgrana (So is Carles Aleñá, the new pearl of Barcelona's youth system); Marca, 19 February 2016 (in Spanish)
  6. Un penalti fallado en el 90' impide el primer triunfo del Barça B (A missed penalty in the 90th minute prevents the first triumph of Barça B); Sport, 29 August 2015 (in Spanish)
  7. Watch Carles Aleñá's stunning goal for Barcelona; UEFA, 24 November 2015
  8. "CD Eldense-Barça B: Derrota para cerrar el año (4-2)" [Eldense CD-Barça B: Defeat to end the year (4-2)] (in Spanish). 19 December 2015.
  9. FC Barcelona announce squad for Mestalla; FC Barcelona, 10 February 2016
  10. Barça salvage 1–1 King's Cup draw against improved Valencia; Reuters, 10 February 2016
  11. Otro petardazo del Barça (Another firecracker from Barça); Marca, 30 November 2016 (in Spanish)
  12. Carles Aleñá: un debut de cinco minutos (Carles Aleñá: a five-minute debut); Sport, 2 April 2017 (in Spanish)
  13. Carles Aleñá agrees to new FC Barcelona contract; FC Barcelona, 28 June 2017
  14. "Agreement with Betis for the loan of Carles Aleñá". fcbarcelona.com. 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  15. Carles Aleñá: "No me llamo Carles, me llamo Pivaldo" (Carles Aleñá: "My name is not Carles, call me Pivaldo"); Sport, 14 September 2015 (in Spanish)
  16. Carles Aleñá at Soccerway
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