Adrián Colunga

Adrián Colunga
Personal information
Full nameAdrián Colunga Pérez
Date of birth17 November 1984
Place of birthOviedo, Spain
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current team
Granada (loan from Brighton & Hove Albion)
Number17
Youth career
Covadonga
Sporting Gijón
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2002–2006Sporting B28(9)
2002→ Turón (loan)8(8)
2003Marino (loan)5(0)
2003–2004Ceares (loan)30(14)
2005–2006Marino (loan)14(2)
2006Soledad16(9)
2006–2007Pájara Playas37(10)
2007–2008Las Palmas34(13)
2008–2010Recreativo46(11)
2010Zaragoza (loan)16(7)
2010–2014Getafe82(17)
2012Sporting Gijón (loan)17(3)
2014–Brighton & Hove Albion17(3)
2015Granada (loan)2(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 17 February 2015 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Colunga and the second or maternal family name is Pérez.

Adrián Colunga Pérez (born 17 November 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Granada CF on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion as a striker.

Football career

Colunga was born in Oviedo, Asturias. After unsuccessfully emerging through Sporting de Gijón's youth system he made his professional debuts on loan, in the third division with Marino de Luanco – also in his native region – going on to serve several others in the third and fourth levels while also appearing in the 2004–05 season for Sporting's B-team.

In January 2006 Colunga was definitely released by Gijón and, after a spell in the fourth division and another in the third, joined UD Las Palmas in level two. He scored 13 league goals (second-best in the team) in the 2007–08 campaign for a Canary Islands' side that was threatened with relegation until the last month of competition.

Colunga was then bought by Recreativo de Huelva in La Liga, in a four-year contract worth 2.7 million.[1] In his debut for the team, on 31 August 2008, he netted the game's only goal in an away win against Andalusia neighbours Real Betis.[2]

Alternating with starts and games from the bench during his first year, Colunga entered the club's history when he scored a penalty kick in a 1–4 loss at Deportivo de La Coruña on 21 December, his fourth consecutive game achieving the feat.[3] Spanish football pundit Guillem Balague compared the player, in his weekly report of first division encounters, to Valencia CF's David Villa;[4] despite a first fruitful year individually, Recre ranked last.

On 23 January 2010, after experiencing personal problems in the new season at Recreativo, which included a confrontation with club fans,[5] Colunga was loaned to Real Zaragoza in the top flight, until June.[6] He scored on his debut eight days later, a 3–1 win at CD Tenerife,[7] and finished the campaign as the club's top scorer in only four months of play, with the Aragonese finally escaping relegation.

On 5 August 2010 Colunga was sold to Getafe CF, as Kepa Blanco moved in the opposite direction.[8]

References

External links