Diego León

Diego León

Personal information
Full name	Diego León Ayarza
Date of birth	(1984-01-16) 16 January 1984
Place of birth	Palencia, Spain
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Nea Salamina
Number	10
Youth career
2001–2003	Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2004	Real Madrid B	10	(0)
2004–2006	Real Madrid	0	(0)
2005–2006	→ Arminia Bielefeld II (loan)	18	(7)
2005	→ Arminia Bielefeld (loan)	14	(1)
2006–2007	Grasshoppers	30	(3)
2007	Grasshoppers II	8	(8)
2008–2009	Barnsley	37	(2)
2009–2010	Las Palmas	22	(1)
2010–2011	Wacker Burghausen	11	(0)
2011–2012	Nea Salamina	17	(1)
2012–2013	Kerkyra	26	(0)
2013–	Nea Salamina	50	(11)
National team
2000–2001	Spain U16	16	(6)
2001	Spain U17	4	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 07:27, 9 March 2015 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Diego León Ayarza (born 16 January 1984 in Palencia, Castile and León) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Cypriot club Nea Salamis Famagusta FC as a midfielder.

Football career

Real Madrid

A youth product of Real Madrid, León could never appear for more than its B-team. He was initially given a number with the main squad for the 2004–05 season, but moved to Arminia Bielefeld in Germany (first on loan) in January 2005 before he could make his official debut for the Spanish giants.

León stayed at Arminia until the end of the 2005–06 campaign, after which he joined Grasshopper Club Zürich in the Swiss Super League.

Barnsley

On 21 December 2007, it was announced that León had signed a pre-contract agreement with Barnsley, with the transfer due to go through at the opening of the transfer window. The Yorkshire club had hoped to make the move official in time for him to play in the FA Cup third-round tie against Blackpool on 5 January 2008, but had to wait until the 9th:^[1] he made his first appearance that evening, playing in a reserve team match against Sheffield United.

León put in a great performance to earn himself his first matchball as a Barnsley player, with a Man of the match award against Colchester United on 29 January 2008. He went on to play in the memorable away victory over Premier League's Liverpool in the FA Cup,^[2] and also played a key role in the Reds 3–0 win at Watford on 9 April, being involved in all three goals, including a sumptuous flick for Jon Macken to square to Kayode Odejayi to score: his corner allowed Stephen Foster to head home and his throughball enabled Odejayi to score his second.

In the following game against Preston North End, León netted a key goal in Barnsley's Championship survival in the 2007–08 campaign, scoring from a 35-yard free kick for the 2–1 triumph.^[3] His second and final goal for the Tykes came in a 3–2 win over Burnley on 24 November 2008^[4] and, on 7 May of the following year, he was told, along with Dennis Souza, Kyle Letheren and Marciano van Homoet he was free to look for a new club in the summer; shortly after he returned to his country, agreeing a deal with Segunda División side UD Las Palmas.

Later years

On 13 December 2010 León moved teams – and countries – again, signing with lowly SV Wacker Burghausen in Germany.^[5] In June of the following year, after a failed move to HNK Hajduk Split, he joined Nea Salamis Famagusta FC in Cyprus.

Club statistics

As of 9 March 2015^[6][7]

Honours

Spain U16

• UEFA European Under-16 Championship: 2001

References

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• Futbolme profile (Spanish)
• Diego León at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Diego León career statistics at Soccerbase
• Diego León – FIFA competition record
• Official website (Spanish)