Fabio Blanco Gómez (born 18 February 2004) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a right winger for Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, on loan from Villarreal CF B.

Fabio Blanco
Personal information
Full name Fabio Blanco Gómez
Date of birth (2004-02-18) 18 February 2004 (age 20)
Place of birth Almería, Spain
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
Cultural Leonesa
(on loan from Villarreal B)
Number 23
Youth career
2016–2019 Almería
2019–2021 Valencia
2021–2022 Eintracht Frankfurt
2022 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2023 Barcelona B 37 (4)
2023– Villarreal B 2 (0)
2024–Cultural Leonesa (loan) 10 (0)
International career
2019 Spain U16 2 (0)
2020 Spain U17 1 (0)
2022 Spain U19 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 April 2024

Club career edit

Early career edit

Blanco trained in the youth ranks at his hometown club UD Almería before moving to Valencia CF when he was 15. He played with Valencia until the end of the 2020–21 season when he allowed his contract to run down and became a free agent.[1] That summer he chose to join Eintracht Frankfurt, signing a contract until 2023 amidst reported interest from Bayern Munich,[2] Real Madrid and Barcelona.[3][4][5]

Barcelona edit

However, after failing to settle in Germany and following a lot of upheaval to the back room staff in Frankfurt involving a new manager, sporting director and chairman, Blanco signed for FC Barcelona in January 2022.[6][7] He was given a two and half year contract with a €100m release clause. Barcelona were well placed in negotiations because they had appointed José Ramón Alexanko and Mateu Alemany as new head of La Masia and sporting director respectively, with both having previously worked with Blanco at Valencia.[8]

Blanco made his senior debut with the reserves on 29 January 2022, replacing Santiago Ramos Mingo in a 2–2 Primera División RFEF home draw against Real Madrid Castilla.[9] He scored his first senior goal on 19 March, netting the winner in a 2–1 home success over UE Cornellà.

In October 2022, along with Antonio Aranda, Emre Demir and Sergi Rosanas, Blanco was called into involvement with the first-team squad training by Barcelona manager Xavi.[10]

Villarreal edit

On 20 June 2023, Blanco was announced at Villarreal CF, being initially assigned to the B-team in Segunda División.[11] The following 12 January, after being rarely used, he returned to the third division with Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa on loan for the remainder of the season.[12]

International career edit

On 25 October 2022 playing for the Spanish under-19 age group team Blanco provided the assist for the goal by Real Madrid’s Cesar Palacios in a 1-0 win over Germany U19.[13]

References edit

  1. ^ "Barcelona interested in Fabio Blanco". Marca.com.
  2. ^ "BAYERN LINKED WITH 17-YEAR-OLD VALENCIA WINGER FABIO BLANCO". onefootball.com.
  3. ^ "Who is Fabio Blanco?". Bundesliga.com.
  4. ^ "Barcelona make move for Fabio Blanco, Valencia's 'New Ferran Torres'". Sport.es.
  5. ^ "Fabio Blanco, the new Barça bet for his 'Dream Teen'". spainsnews.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Barcelona set to sign 17-year-old former Valencia man Fabio Blanco from Eintracht Frankfurt". football-espana.net.
  7. ^ "Fabio Blanco: Introducing Barcelona's new wonderkid after January transfer". 90min.com.
  8. ^ "Fabio Blanco: The new wonderkid Barcelona beat Real Madrid to sign". Goal.com.
  9. ^ "FC Barcelona B 2-2 Real Madrid Castilla: Reaction just in time". FC Barcelona. 29 January 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Four homegrown players in the Barça post-Clásico session". fcbarcelonanoticias.com.
  11. ^ "Fabio Blanco ya es groguet" [Fabio Blanco is already groguet] (in Spanish). Villarreal CF. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Fabio Blanco, cedido a la Cultural Leonesa" [Fabio Blanco, loaned to Cultural Leonesa] (in Spanish). Villarreal CF. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Fabio Blanco pide paso desde la Selección". mundadeportivo.com.

External links edit