Suso (footballer)

Suso

Suso in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Jesús Joaquín Fernández Sáez de la Torre
Date of birth	(1993-11-19) 19 November 1993
Place of birth	Cádiz, Spain
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Almería (on loan from Liverpool)
Number	17
Youth career
2004–2010	Cádiz
2010–2012	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2012–	Liverpool	14	(0)
2013–	→ Almería (loan)	20	(2)
National team‡
2009–2010	Spain U17	7	(5)
2011–2012	Spain U18	5	(0)
2012	Spain U19	9	(1)
2013	Spain U20	8	(1)
2012–	Spain U21	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:26, 2 February 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2013

Jesús Joaquín Fernández Sáez de la Torre (born 19 November 1993), known as Suso, is a Spanish footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for La Liga club UD Almería, on loan from Liverpool.^[1]

Early years

Suso joined the youth team at Cádiz CF at the age of 12. He first began to gather attention after a man of the match performance in a pre-season friendly in 2009 at the age of 15. Suso went on to sign for the Liverpool Academy in the summer of 2010 from his hometown club Cadiz, rejecting Barcelona and Real Madrid in the process, saying "I was going to sign for Real Madrid but one day before it the phone rang and Rafael Benitez spoke to me. He convinced me that Liverpool was the club for me and after that I had to change my plans. I was going to come to Liverpool." He was described by Cádiz manager Quique González as "a boy with great quality, a good shot – his vision is great and his passing is outstanding."

Club career

Liverpool

Suso initially joined the Liverpool Academy on loan until he was old enough to obtain a permit to play for them professionally. On 19 November 2010, he marked his 17th birthday by signing his first professional contract with the Reds.^[1][2] Suso made his first appearance for the first team in a pre-season friendly against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 1 August 2010, and he also took part in Jamie Carragher's testimonial match on 4 September 2010. However for competitive fixtures, he was immediately placed in the reserves, foregoing the Academy. In the 2010–11 season, he made the joint-highest number of appearances for the side with 17, and netted three goals as he adapted well to life on Merseyside. He followed this up with five goals in 17 games during the 2011–12 season, and he also made seven appearances in the NextGen Series.

Suso was included in the squad for Liverpool's pre-season tour of the USA and Canada in July 2012 by new manager Brendan Rodgers. He linked up with his team-mates just two days after winning the U-19 European Championships with Spain. He appeared in the second half of the friendly match versus Toronto, and impressed greatly with his all-round dangerous play and impressive shooting.

Suso on the ball for Liverpool in a pre-season friendly against Roma in July 2012.

On 20 September 2012, Suso made his senior Liverpool début in a Europa League match against Young Boys, completing the full 90 minutes and earning a rave review from manager Brendan Rodgers. He made his Premier League début 3 days later against Manchester United in a 2–1 defeat at Anfield, replacing the injured Fabio Borini at half time. He performed impressively, completing all his passes despite Liverpool being a man down. He then played in the next game against West Bromwich Albion six days later in the League Cup, coming on with 10 minutes to play and making an immediate impact by helping set up Nuri Şahin's second goal in a 2–1 win. He went on to make his first Premier League start on 29 September in a 5–2 win at Norwich City, where he assisted Luis Suárez's third goal.^[3]

On 19 October 2012, Suso signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool, receiving praise from manager Brendan Rodgers for his "maturity and commitment".^[4]

On 18 December 2012, Suso was fined £10,000 for a homophobic remark he made to Liverpool team mate Jose Enrique on Twitter.^[5] Jose Enrique replied to these charges, saying the remark was 'banter' claiming it was 'just a joke'.^[6]

On 25 February 2013, after being shut out of the first team due to the signings of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, Suso put in a performance for the U21's against Manchester United. His performance was not good and he acknowledged that on his Twitter account, he tweeted "Sorry about tonight.. I was having some stomach problems during all game but i didn't want to come off of the game... Again sorry!". The game finished 1-0 to United against a very strong Liverpool side that included Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom and Jonjo Shelvey.^[7]

Almería (loan)

On 12 July 2013, Suso joined La Liga side UD Almería on a season-long loan.^[8] He made his debut for the Andalusians on 19 August, assisting Rodri in one of the goals, but in a 2–3 home loss against Villareal CF.^[9] In the following matchday he also assisted Rodri, in a 2–2 away draw against Getafe CF.

On 21 September Suso scored his first top flight goal, in a 2–2 home draw against Levante UD.^[10] On 30 October he helped his side to end a wretched run of five successive defeats, assisting Marco Torsiglieri in a 2–1 away success over Valencia CF.^[11]

On 2 November Suso assisted Rodri by putting a cross into the six-yard box and the forward slid in to meet it, who then scored the match's only goal (although highly-controversial) in a home win against Real Valladolid.^[12] Late in the month he scored his second goal for the Andalusians, but in a 1–3 away loss against Celta de Vigo,^[13] but was also fined for missing training due to oversleeping.^[14]

Suso was then dropped to the bench in the following matches against Real Betis, Granada CF, Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal, only returning to the starting lineup on 26 January of the following year, also assisting Jonathan Zongo in the game's only goal against Getafe.^[15]

International career

Suso has represented Spain at U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21 level. In 2012 Suso started every game during the U19 European Championships, where he won his first international honour.^[16] He was also captain of the Spain under-20 side that competed in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Club statistics

As of 2 February 2014.

Honours

Spain U19

• UEFA European U-19 Championship (1): 2012

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Suso.

• Suso (footballer) career stats at Soccerbase
• LFC History Profile
• ESPN Soccernet Profile