Gonzalo Villar del Fraile (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡon´θalo biˈʎaɾ]; born 23 March 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club Sampdoria, on loan from Roma. He also plays for the Spain national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gonzalo Villar del Fraile | ||
| Date of birth | (1998-03-23) 23 March 1998 (age 24) | ||
| Place of birth | Murcia, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Central midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team |
Sampdoria (on loan from Roma) | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2015 | Elche | ||
| 2015–2017 | Valencia | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015 | Elche B | 3 | (0) |
| 2016–2018 | Valencia B | 32 | (2) |
| 2018–2020 | Elche | 35 | (1) |
| 2020– | Roma | 42 | (0) |
| 2022 | → Getafe (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2022– | → Sampdoria (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2016 | Spain U19 | 2 | (0) |
| 2019–2021 | Spain U21 | 10 | (1) |
| 2021– | Spain | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 August 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 June 2021 | |||
Villar was born in Murcia, and represented Elche CF as a youth. On 4 January 2015, aged just 16, he made his senior debut with the reserves by coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–3 Segunda División B home loss against UE Sant Andreu.[2]
On 28 August 2015 Villar joined Valencia CF for a fee of € 175,000, and returned to youth football.[3] Promoted to the B-team ahead of the 2017–18 season, he was a first-choice in Lubo Penev's side,[4] scoring his first senior goal on 26 August 2017 in a 4–1 home routing of CF Peralada-Girona B.
On 9 July 2018, Villar returned to Elche, being assigned to the main squad in Segunda División;[5] Valencia retained 80% of his future transfer.[6] He made his professional debut on 18 August, starting in a 0–0 home draw against Granada CF.[7]
Villar scored his first professional goal on 24 November 2019, netting his team's third in a 3–3 away draw against Málaga CF.[8]
On 29 January 2020, Villar moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with AS Roma. Roma paid an initial fee of €4 million for his transfer, with potential extra €1 million due based on performance.[9] He made his Serie A debut on 15 February, replacing Diego Perotti in a 1–2 away loss at Atalanta BC.[10]
On 13 January 2022, Villar returned to his home country after agreeing to a loan deal with La Liga side Getafe CF until the end of the season.[11]
Due to the isolation of some national team players following the positive COVID-19 test of Sergio Busquets, Spain's under-21 squad were called up for the international friendly against Lithuania on 8 June 2021.[12] Villar made his senior debut in the match as Spain won 4–0.[13]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Elche B | 2014–15 | Segunda División B | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Valencia B | 2015–16 | Segunda División B | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 31 | 2 | — | — | 31 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 32 | 2 | — | — | 32 | 2 | ||||
| Elche | 2018–19 | Segunda División | 15 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 17 | 1 | |
| 2019–20 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 22 | 1 | |||
| Total | 35 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | 39 | 2 | |||
| Roma | 2019–20 | Serie A | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 2020–21 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 47 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 64 | 0 | ||
| Getafe (loan) | 2021–22 | La Liga | 10 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | ||
| Sampdoria (loan) | 2022–23 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| Career total | 124 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 148 | 4 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
U.C. Sampdoria – current squad | |
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