Enrique de Lucas

Enrique de Lucas
Personal information
Full name Enrique de Lucas Martínez
Date of birth (1978-08-17) 17 August 1978
Place of birth L'Hospitalet, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
Ferrán Martorell
Barcelona
1995–1996 Espanyol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1999 Espanyol B 67 (25)
1998–2002 Espanyol 92 (16)
2001Paris Saint-Germain (loan) 4 (0)
2002–2003 Chelsea 25 (0)
2003–2007 Alavés 127 (19)
2007–2009 Murcia 57 (7)
2009–2010 Cartagena 38 (11)
2010–2013 Celta 98 (21)
2013–2014 Hércules 24 (4)
2015 Biggleswade United 3 (0)
Total 535 (103)
National team
1995 Spain U16 7 (1)
1998–1999 Spain U21 4 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† 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 retired footballer who played 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 1999–2000 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 campaign.

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. He featured heavily in his first year, 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.[8][9]

After suffering relegation from the second tier, with Hércules CF, de Lucas retired from football at the age of 35. In February 2015, however, he returned to active, joining English amateurs Biggleswade United.[10]

International career

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

Honours

Espanyol

References

  1. 1 2 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 F.C. 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)
  8. "Iago Aspas, Oubiña y De Lucas, claves en el ascenso" [Iago Aspas, Oubiña and De Lucas, key to promotion] (in Spanish). Te Interesa. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  9. "Quique de Lucas" (in Spanish). Yo Jugué en el Celta. 21 July 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  10. "Ex-Barcelona & Chelsea star joins United". Pitchero. February 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.

External links

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