Enrique de Lucas

Enrique de Lucas
Personal information
Full nameEnrique de Lucas Martínez
Date of birth17 August 1978
Place of birthL'Hospitalet, Spain
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Biggleswade United
Youth career
Ferran Martorell
Barcelona
1995–1996Espanyol
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1996–1999Espanyol B67(25)
1998–2002Espanyol92(16)
2001Paris Saint-Germain (loan)4(0)
2002–2003Chelsea25(0)
2003–2007Alavés127(19)
2007–2009Murcia57(7)
2009–2010Cartagena38(11)
2010–2013Celta98(21)
2013–2014Hércules24(4)
2015–Biggleswade United0(0)
Total532(103)
National team
1995Spain U167(1)
1998–1999Spain U214(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 February 2015.
† Appearances (Goals).
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is De Lucas and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.

Enrique "Quique" de Lucas Martínez (born 17 August 1978) is a Spanish footballer who plays for English club Biggleswade United mainly as an attacking midfielder.

He started his professional career with Espanyol, going on to amass La Liga totals of 168 games and 25 goals over the course of eight seasons, also representing in the competition Alavés, Murcia and Celta. He added 268/53 in Segunda División, where he played for all the clubs except his first.

De Lucas had two spells abroad, including the 2002–03 campaign with Chelsea.

Club career

Born in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia, de Lucas emerged through the ranks of RCD Espanyol, making his first-team debut on 15 May 1998 away against Real Valladolid, his sole appearance of the season, but being promoted to the main squad immediately afterwards. Subsequently he became an important offensive element for the Pericos, appearing in 30 La Liga games and scoring four goals in the 1999–2000 campaign while helping the club to that year's Copa del Rey.

After his contract expired in 2002, and after an unassuming loan spell at Paris Saint-Germain F.C. the previous year, de Lucas joined Chelsea,[1] being relatively used in his first and only season. His sole goal for the English was a well-executed chip in the UEFA Cup against Viking FK, in a 2–1 home win but 4–5 loss on aggregate.[2]

De Lucas then returned to Spain, having a huge impact at Deportivo Alavés, although most of his stint was spent in the second division. He netted six goals in 40 matches as the Basque side returned to the top flight after two years, being immediately relegated the following season.

After another season in the second level, de Lucas became Real Murcia's first signing after it achieved a top flight return in 2007, agreeing on a two-year deal. In his first year he featured heavily, notably scoring in a 1–1 home draw against Real Madrid,[3] but the club returned to division two.

In August 2009 de Lucas had a trial with Football League Championship's Blackpool, after his Murcia link had expired,[4] alongside Will Haining and Ishmel Demontagnac.[5] However, he signed with FC Cartagenafreshly returned to the second division – shortly after;[6] he scored the first goal of the new campaign, a 1–0 success at Girona FC.[7]

In late June 2010, after nearly helping Cartagena to another promotion (fifth place, with chances of promotion until the last two rounds) while scoring a career-best 11 goals, de Lucas moved to Celta de Vigo for two years. He produced the same individual numbers in his first two years – 37 games, nine goals – helping the Galicians promote to the top level in 2012 as runner-up.

International career

De Lucas made four appearances for the Spanish under-21 side, in a one-year span.[1]

Honours

Espanyol

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 De Lucas opts for Chelsea; UEFA.com, 28 May 2002
  2. "Chelsea edge past Viking". BBC Sport. 19 September 2002. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  3. "El Madrid resbala en suelo pimentonero" [Madrid slips in pimentonero ground] (in Spanish). Marca. 24 November 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  4. "Team news from Oldham". Blackpool FC. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
  5. "Adam switch to Blackpool back on". BBC Sport. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  6. Quique de Lucas cambia Murcia por Cartagena (Quique de Lucas changes Murcia for Cartagena); Marca, 7 August 2009 (Spanish)
  7. De Lucas abre la lata de los goles en Segunda (De Lucas opens can of goals in Segunda); Marca, 29 August 2009 (Spanish)

External links