Suso (footballer)
|
Suso with Liverpool in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jesús Joaquín Fernández Sáenz de la Torre[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 19 November 1993 | ||
| Place of birth | Cádiz, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team |
Genoa (on loan from Milan) | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2004–2010 | Cádiz | ||
| 2010–2012 | Liverpool | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2012–2015 | Liverpool | 14 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | → Almería (loan) | 33 | (3) |
| 2015– | Milan | 6 | (0) |
| 2016– | → Genoa (loan) | 13 | (4) |
| National team | |||
| 2009–2010 | Spain U17 | 7 | (5) |
| 2011–2012 | Spain U18 | 5 | (0) |
| 2012 | Spain U19 | 9 | (1) |
| 2013 | Spain U20 | 8 | (1) |
| 2012–2013 | Spain U21 | 5 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 April 2016. | |||
Jesús Joaquín Fernández Sáenz de la Torre (born 19 November 1993), known as Suso, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Italian club Genoa, on loan from Milan as an attacking midfielder.
Scouted by English club Liverpool as a teenager, he made his professional debut there in 2012, playing sparingly and spending a season on loan at Almería before joining Milan in January 2015.
Suso represented Spain at various youth levels up to under-21, winning the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
Early years
Born in Cádiz, 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 Cádiz. He rejected 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 Rafa Benítez 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.[3][4] Suso made his first appearance for the first team in a pre-season friendly against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 1 August 2010, also playing in Jamie Carragher's testimonial match on 4 September. For competitive fixtures, however, 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 United States and Canada in July 2012 by new manager Brendan Rodgers. He linked up with his teammates just two days after winning the U-19 European Championships with Spain. He appeared in the second half of the friendly match against Toronto FC and impressed greatly with his all-round dangerous play and impressive shooting.
On 20 September 2012, Suso made his senior Liverpool debut in a Europa League match against Young Boys, completing the full 90 minutes and earning a rave review from Brendan Rodgers. He made his Premier League debut three days later against Manchester United in a 1–2 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 ten 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 2–5 win at Norwich City, where he assisted Luis Suárez's third goal.[5]
On 19 October 2012, Suso signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool, receiving praise from manager Brendan Rodgers for his "maturity and commitment."[6]
On 18 December 2012, Suso was fined £10,000 for a remark he made to Liverpool teammate and compatriot José Enrique on Twitter, which The Football Association (FA) deemed homophobic.[7] José Enrique replied to these charges, saying the remark was "banter" and "just a joke."[8]
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 under-21 team 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 [sic] 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.[9]
Almería (loan)
On 12 July 2013, Suso joined La Liga side Almería on a season-long loan deal.[10] He made his debut for the Andalusians on 19 August, assisting Rodri's goal in an eventual 2–3 home loss against Villarreal.[11] In the following matchday, he also assisted Rodri in a 2–2 away draw against Getafe.
On 21 September, Suso scored his first top flight goal in a 2–2 home draw against Levante.[12] On 30 October, he helped his side end a wretched run of five successive defeats, assisting Marco Torsiglieri in a 1–2 away success over Valencia.[13]
On 2 November, Suso assisted Rodri by putting a cross into the six-yard box that was converted by the forward, who slid to meet the ball. It was the match's only goal (although highly-controversial) in a home win over Real Valladolid.[14] Late in the month, Suso scored his second goal for the Andalusians, his team's only marker in a 3–1 away loss against Celta de Vigo,[15] but was also fined for missing training due to oversleeping.[16]
Suso was then dropped to the bench in the following matches against Real Betis, Granada, Athletic Bilbao, and Villarreal, only returning to the starting lineup on 26 January of the following year, assisting Jonathan Zongo in the game's only goal against Getafe.[17]
Return to Liverpool
Suso was first recalled to a Liverpool matchday squad as they began their Champions League campaign on 16 September 2014 with a 2–1 win over Bulgarian club Ludogorets Razgrad, though he went unused.[18] A week later, in a League Cup third round match against Middlesbrough at Anfield, he replaced Lazar Marković in the 98th minute and scored his first goal for the club 11 minutes later in a 2–2 draw after extra time. He also scored twice in the subsequent penalty shoot-out, including the winner, as Liverpool won 14–13.[19]
Milan
On 12 January 2015, Suso signed a four-year deal with Italian club Milan, effective upon the expiration of his contract with Liverpool, which ended in July 2015.[20] It was later agreed, however, that he would join the Rossoneri immediately after Riccardo Saponara joined Empoli on loan until the end of the season. Due to the early cancellation of Suso's Liverpool contract, Milan paid a €1.3 million compensatory fee to Liverpool.
Suso made his debut on 27 January in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia, replacing Michelangelo Albertazzi for the last ten minutes of a 0–1 home defeat against Lazio.[21] Suso's Serie A debut came on 4 April; he came on alongside Gianpaolo Pazzini in place of Alessio Cerci and Mattia Destro in the 77th minute of a 1–2 win away at Palermo.[22]
Genoa (loan)
On 4 January 2016, Suso joined Genoa on loan until the end of the season after only appearing once in the campaign for Milan. Upon his arrival, he was given the number 17 jersey.[23] On 3 April, after only one goal in his previous 12 games, he scored his first hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Frosinone at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.[24] He became only the second Spaniard to score three goals in a game in Italy's top flight, after Luis Suárez for Inter Milan against Genoa in 1963.[25]
International career
Suso has represented Spain at U-17, U-18, U-19, U-20 and U-21 level. In 2012, Suso started every game during the U-19 European Championships, where he won his first international honour.[26] He was also captain of the Spain under-20 side that competed in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Honours
- Spain U19
References
- ↑ "Suso: Jesús Joaquín Fernández Sáenz de la Torre". BDFutbol. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
- ↑ http://www.acmilan.com/it/teams/roster_player/11905
- ↑ "Jesus Fernandez Saenz". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012.
- ↑ "Player Profile: Suso – Liverpool's Spanish flyer". ITV Sport. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ↑ "Norwich 2–5 Liverpool" BBC Sport. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ↑ "Suso signs new long-term Liverpool deal". Goal.com. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
- ↑ "Suso fined £10,000 for homophobic outburst". dailymail.com. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- ↑ "Jose Enrique defends Liverpool team-mate Suso after he’s fined £10,000 by FA for ‘gay’ Twitter comment". Metro. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
- ↑ John Drayton (25 February 2013). "FA to investigate after flares, smoke bombs and pitch invaders mar Liverpool v Man United Under 21 clash". dailymail.com. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
- ↑ "El Almería se hace con los servicios de Suso, una de las perlas del fútbol español" [Almería signs Suso, one of the Spanish football wonderkids] (in Spanish). Almería's official website. 12 July 2013.
- ↑ "Valiant Villarreal open with win". ESPN FC. 19 August 2013.
- ↑ "Levante fight back for point". ESPN FC. 21 September 2013.
- ↑ "Almeria shock Los Che". ESPN FC. 30 October 2013.
- ↑ "Controversial win for Almeria". ESPN FC. 2 November 2013.
- ↑ "Celta fight back to end losing run". ESPN FC. 30 November 2013.
- ↑ "Francisco ‘indultó’ a Suso por dormirse" [Francisco ‘pardoned’ Suso for oversleeping] (in Spanish). Marca. 26 November 2013.
- ↑ "Almeria 1 Getafe 0". ESPN FC. 26 January 2014.
- ↑ Sheringham, Sam (16 September 2014). "Liverpool 2–1 Ludo Razgd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ↑ "Reds through after true penalty drama". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ↑ "SUSO SET FOR MILAN MOVE". Sky Sports News. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
- ↑ "AC Milan 0-1 Lazio: Biglia sends 10-man visitors into last four". Goal.com. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
- ↑ Fenn, Alec (4 April 2015). "Palermo 1-2 AC Milan: Menez magic snatches late winner". Goal.com. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ↑ "RIGONI E SUSO TESSERATI DAL GENOA" [RIGONI AND SUSO GENOA MEMBERS] (in Italian). Genoa C.F.C. 4 January 2016.
- ↑ Walsh, Kristian (3 April 2016). "Watch former Liverpool FC midfielder Suso net first career hat trick". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ↑ "Luis Suárez: "Enhorabuena Suso, ahora estamos dos en el club"" [Luis Suárez: "Congratulations Suso, now we are in a two-person club"] (in Spanish). Marca. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ On 9 October 2012, Suso received his first call up to Spain U21 for their game against Italy. "Suso". UEFA.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Suso. |
| ||||||