Manuel "Manu" Morlanes Ariño (born 12 January 1999) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Villarreal CF.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Manuel Morlanes Ariño | ||
| Date of birth | (1999-01-12) 12 January 1999 (age 23) | ||
| Place of birth | Zaragoza, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Central midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Villarreal | ||
| Number | 20 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Zaragoza | |||
| 2012–2015 | Villarreal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2017 | Villarreal C | 41 | (2) |
| 2016–2019 | Villarreal B | 38 | (2) |
| 2017– | Villarreal | 19 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | → Almería (loan) | 36 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | → Espanyol (loan) | 27 | (2) |
| National team | |||
| 2015 | Spain U16 | 4 | (1) |
| 2014–2016 | Spain U17 | 25 | (3) |
| 2016–2018 | Spain U19 | 9 | (0) |
| 2019 | Spain U21 | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 29 May 2022 | |||
Born in Zaragoza, Morlanes represented local Real Zaragoza as a youth before switching to Villarreal CF's academy in the summer of 2012.[1] He made his debut with the C-team in the 2015–16 Tercera División campaign.[2]
On 3 September 2016, Morlanes made his debut for the B-team in a 3–2 defeat against FC Barcelona B.[3] He suffered a knee injury during a match against CD Castellón in December,[4] returning to play in September 2017 in a 0–0 draw against UE Llagostera.[5]
Morlanes made his first-team debut on 8 December 2017, starting in a 1–0 defeat against Maccabi Tel Aviv in UEFA Europa League.[6] The following 13 June, he renewed his contract until 2023.[7]
Morlanes made his La Liga debut on 18 August 2018, starting in a 2–1 home loss against Real Sociedad. Ahead of the 2019–20 campaign, he was definitely promoted to the main squad.[8]
On 7 September 2020, Morlanes was loaned to Segunda División side UD Almería for one year, with a buyout clause.[9] After being a regular starter, Almería exercised the buyout clause on his contract, but Villarreal also activated the buy-back clause to retain the player.[10]
On 16 August 2021, Morlanes signed a new contract with the Yellow Submarine until 2026, and joined fellow top tier side RCD Espanyol on loan for the 2021–22 season.[11]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Villarreal C | 2015–16[12] | Tercera División | 28 | 0 | — | — | — | 28 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17[12] | Tercera División | 13 | 2 | — | — | — | 13 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 41 | 2 | — | — | — | 41 | 2 | |||||
| Villarreal B | 2016–17[12] | Segunda División B | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18[12] | Segunda División B | 27 | 1 | — | — | 6[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 33 | 1 | |||
| 2018–19[12] | Segunda División B | 8 | 1 | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 10 | 1 | |||
| Total | 38 | 2 | — | — | 8 | 0 | 46 | 2 | ||||
| Villarreal | 2017–18[13] | La Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[13] | La Liga | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[lower-alpha 2] | 1 | — | 16 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20[13] | La Liga | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22[13] | La Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 19 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 1 | ||
| Almería (loan) | 2020–21[13] | Segunda División | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 39 | 1 | |
| Career total | 134 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 157 | 6 | ||
Spain U17
Villarreal CF – current squad | |
|---|---|