Marc Muniesa

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Marc Muniesa

Muniesa with the Spain U21s in 2010
Personal information
Full nameMarc Muniesa Martínez[1]
Date of birth (1992-03-27) 27 March 1992
Place of birthLloret de Mar, Spain
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionDefender
Club information
Current clubStoke City
Number5
Youth career
Lloret CF
2002–2009Barcelona
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2009–2013Barcelona B79(4)
2009–2013Barcelona2(0)
2013–Stoke City6(0)
National team‡
2008Spain U162(0)
2009Spain U1710(0)
2010–2011Spain U199(0)
2011–Spain U216(0)
2011–Catalonia1(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:51, 29 December 2013 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 September 2013
This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Muniesa and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.

Marc Muniesa Martínez (born 27 March 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Premier League club Stoke City. Mainly a central defender, he can also play as a left back.

Muniesa began his career with Barcelona, making his debut at the end of the 2008–09 season at the age of 17. Muniesa then played for Barcelona B, helping them to win promotion to the Segunda División in 2009–10. He was on the verge of breaking into the first team in 2012–13 but suffered a torn knee ligament in pre-season and missed most of the season. In July 2013 he joined English side Stoke City on a free transfer.

Muniesa gained 26 caps for Spain at youth level, including five for the under-21 side with which he won the 2013 European Championship.

Club career

Barcelona

Born in Lloret de Mar, Girona, Catalonia, when Muniesa was only 15 years old, there were already transfer rumours that Chelsea wanted to sign him.[2] At the La Masia youth academy he developed quickly, and was ready to appear for FC Barcelona's first team at the age of 17.[3]

Muniesa made his debut for Barça's first team aged 17 years and 57 days on 23 May 2009, as a substitute in a 1–0 La Liga home loss against CA Osasuna for the already crowned league champions. This appearance made him the second youngest player ever to feature for Barcelona, but he only played a few minutes, being sent off after a challenge on an opponent;[4] the following Wednesday, he was named amongst the substitutes for the 2009 Champions League Final against Manchester United.

Muniesa and four other FC Barcelona B players were promoted to the first team for the 2009–10 pre-season, but he appeared almost exclusively for the B's in Segunda División B, contributing with 19 games and one goal as the team returned to Segunda División after 11 years. In 2010–11 Muniesa played 25 times for Barcelona B as they finished in 3rd position in Spain's second tier. In 2011–12 he made three substitute appearances for the first team, one in the league against Getafe CF and two in the UEFA Champions League, against FC BATE Borisov and Bayer 04 Leverkusen;[5][6] he added 24 matches with the reserves, helping them to the eighth position in the table.

On 15 February 2011 Muniesa signed a new contract with Barcelona, extending his link with the club by another year and raising his buyout clause to €30 million.[7] On 4 April of the following year the Blaugrana announced that the player had signed an extension to his contract, also being promoted to the main squad for the 2012–13 season.[8]

On 24 July 2012, in Barcelona's first pre-season friendly, against Hamburger SV, Muniesa suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, going on to miss six months.[9] Prior to suffering his injury Muniesa was wanted on loan by Dutch club Ajax.[10]

Stoke City

On 2 July 2013 Muniesa joined Premier League club Stoke City on a free transfer, signing a four-year contract.[11][12] Following his move to England he stated — “I never imagined I would get the chance to play in the Premier League, but when Stoke called me I decided to come here with my family to speak to them. All the people I’ve spoken have shown a lot of confidence in me and I’m really happy that everything has been sorted. It wasn't a big decision for me to make. I came to England yesterday to meet the people at the club and look around the training ground, which is very impressive".[13][14] He made his debut for Stoke in a 3–1 victory over Walsall in the League Cup on 31 August 2013.[15] He made his first start in the Premier League on 30 November 2013 against Everton at Goodison Park.[16]

International career

Muniesa played in all of Spain's youth teams from under-16s to under 21s. During that time he has been members of the squads which won the 2013 European Under-21 Championship and achieved a third place finish at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[17][18]

Style of play

Muniesa is a defender and has played at left back and centre back and can also play in midfield but states that his preferred position is at centre back.[14] "My favourite position is central defender. I can also play at left back or in midfield but I feel better when I play centre-back".[14]

Career statistics

As of match played 26 January 2014[19]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Barcelona B 2009–10 Segunda División B 191–––20211
2010–11 Segunda División 252––––252
2011–12 Segunda División 241––––241
2012–13 Segunda División 110––––110
Total 794–––20814
Barcelona 2008–09 La Liga 1000–000010
2009–10 La Liga 0000–000000
2010–11 La Liga 0000–000000
2011–12 La Liga 1000–200030
2012–13 La Liga 0000–000000
Total 2000–200040
Stoke City 2013–14 Premier League 601030––100
Total 6010300000100
Career total 87410302020954
A. ^ Constitutes appearances and goals in the 2010 Segunda División B play-offs, FIFA Club World Cup, Supercopa de España and UEFA Super Cup.

Honours

Club

Barcelona

Country

Spain U21
  • UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship: 2013
Spain U17

References

  1. ↑ "Barclays Premier League Squad Numbers 2013/14". Premier League. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013. 
  2. ↑ Premiership interest in Marc Muniesa and Willy Caballero; La Liga Review, 25 February 2008
  3. ↑ Barcelona starlet Muniesa reflects on manic debut; Goal.com, 24 May 2009
  4. ↑ Muniesa given Barcelona support after bittersweet debut; Goal.com, 24 May 2009
  5. ↑ "Youthful Barcelona breeze past BATE". UEFA.com. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2013. 
  6. ↑ "Five-goal Messi leaves Leverkusen spellbound". UEFA.com. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2013. 
  7. ↑ Muniesa renueva hasta el 2012 (Muniesa renews until 2012); Barcelona's official website, 15 February 2011 (Spanish)
  8. ↑ "Muniesa promoted to first team". Barcelona's official website. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012. 
  9. ↑ Marc Muniesa out for six months; Barcelona's official website, 25 July 2012
  10. ↑ "Muniesa set for Ajax loan". Sky Sports. Retrieved 6 July 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Stoke City sign Barcelona defender Marc Muniesa". BBC Sport. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013. 
  12. ↑ "City sign Spanish star". Stoke City F.C. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013. 
  13. ↑ "Stoke City sign Barcelona defender Marc Muniesa". The Sentinel. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "A big surprise". Stoke City F.C. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013. 
  15. ↑ "Stoke 3-1 Walsall". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 August 2013. 
  16. ↑ "Everton 4-0 Stoke". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 December 2013. 
  17. ↑ "Colombia 0–1 Spain". FIFA. Retrieved 6 July 2013. 
  18. ↑ "Italy U21 2–4 Spain U21". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 July 2013. 
  19. ↑ "Marc Muniesa". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 January 2014. 

External links

Stoke City F.C. – current squad
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