Andreu Fontàs

Andreu Fontàs Prat (Catalan pronunciation: [ənˈdɾew funˈtas]; born 14 November 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for North American club Sporting Kansas City.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Fontàs and the second or maternal family name is Prat.

Andreu Fontàs
Fontàs in 2015
Personal information
Full name Andreu Fontàs Prat
Date of birth (1989-11-14) 14 November 1989
Place of birth Banyoles, Spain
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Sporting Kansas City
Number 3
Youth career
1995–2006 Banyoles
2006–2007 Girona
2007–2008 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007 Girona 1 (0)
2008–2011 Barcelona B 72 (2)
2009–2013 Barcelona 8 (0)
2012–2013 → Mallorca (loan) 9 (0)
2013–2018 Celta 105 (2)
2018– Sporting Kansas City 15 (0)
National team‡
2008 Spain U19 2 (0)
2009 Spain U20 9 (0)
2010–2011 Spain U21 3 (0)
2010– Catalonia 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 October 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 December 2016

Club career

Early years

Born in Banyoles, Girona, Catalonia, Fontàs was a product of FC Barcelona's youth system, having previously played for amateurs CD Banyoles for 11 years.

Originally a defensive midfielder, he was reconverted into central defender by the B-team's coach Luis Enrique, a former Barcelona player.[1]

Barcelona
Fontàs as a Barcelona player in 2010

Fontàs made his first team debut on 31 August 2009, replacing another La Masia graduate, Gerard Piqué, in the final six minutes of a 3–0 La Liga home win against Sporting de Gijón.[2] Earlier into the 2009–10 campaign he was called by manager Pep Guardiola to the Spanish Supercup and UEFA Super Cup games, respectively against Athletic Bilbao and FC Shakhtar Donetsk, but finally did not make the bench on either occasion.[3] He spent the vast majority of his first senior seasons registered with the reserves.

On 20 November 2010, Fontàs started for the first time in the league with the first team, assisting Pedro Rodríguez with a 50-meter pass for the fourth goal, as Barcelona trounced UD Almería 8–0 away.[4] On 7 December he made his UEFA Champions League debut, against FC Rubin Kazan: as the Blaugrana had already progressed to the knock-out stages as group winners, he scored in the 2–0 home win, converting a pass from fellow youth graduate Thiago Alcântara.[5]

On 16 March 2011, Fontàs was promoted to the senior team on a permanent basis after Eric Abidal was diagnosed with a tumour in his liver, thus becoming unavailable for the rest of the campaign.[6] He appeared in three consecutive games in May for the eventual champions, always as a left back; on the 15th, as a starter, he returned to his natural position, in a 0–0 home draw against Deportivo de La Coruña.[7]

Fontàs remained a backup in 2011–12. On 12 January 2012, in a game at CA Osasuna for the season's Copa del Rey, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the tenth minute of the game, being sidelined for several months.[8][9]

On 15 October 2012, Fontàs was loaned to RCD Mallorca until the end of the season, as backup to João Victor who suffered a severe knee injury.[10] He was almost exclusively used as a defensive midfielder during his spell in the Balearic Islands, with the campaign ending in relegation.

Celta

On 20 June 2013, Fontàs was signed by RC Celta de Vigo, who paid €1 million for the player and signed him to a three-year deal, with Barcelona reserving a buy-back option in addition to rights on any future transfer. He rejoined former Barcelona B boss Luis Enrique in the process,[11][12] and finished his first year at Balaídos with 35 appearances (more than 3,000 minutes of action) to help to a ninth-place finish.[13]

On 7 August 2018, Fontàs terminated his contract with the Galician club.[14]

Sporting Kansas City

On 8 August 2018, Fontàs joined Sporting Kansas City from Major League Soccer through 2022.[15]

Club statistics
As of 12 June 2018[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other[17] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Barcelona B 2008–09 200–200
2009–10 271–271
2010–11 251–251
Total 722000000722
Barcelona 2009–10 1010000020
2010–11 6010110081
2011–12 1030101060
Total 80502110161
Mallorca 2012–13 9040–130
Total 90400000130
Celta 2013–14 35000–350
2014–15 3420020–360
2015–16 7100–71
2016–17 1712081–272
2017–18 1204000–160
Total 10526081001213
Career total 1944150102102206

Honours

Club

Barcelona

International

Spain U20

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References
  1. Sánchez, César (19 July 2010). "La cantera como vía y no como alternativa" [Youth system as the way to go and not an alternative] (in Spanish). Don Balón. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  2. "Pura contundencia" [Sheer power] (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  3. "El Barça-Shakhtar, en anécdotas" [Barça-Shakhtar, curiosities]. Sport (in Spanish). 9 December 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  4. Rubio, Juanma (20 November 2010). "La definición de monólogo" [Definition of a monologue]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  5. "Rubin blown away by Barcelona young guns". UEFA. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  6. "Fontàs joins first team squad". FC Barcelona. 17 March 2011. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  7. "Barca back-ups draw blank". ESPN Soccernet. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  8. Aldunate, Ramiro (12 January 2012). "Messi enciende las antiniebla" [Messi turns fog lamps on]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  9. Herrero, Gemma (12 January 2012). "Fontàs, adiós a la temporada" [Fontàs, goodbye to season]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  10. "Fontàs loan move to Mallorca". FC Barcelona. 15 October 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  11. "Andreu Fontàs ficha por el Celta" [Andreu Fontàs signs for Celta] (in Spanish). Goal. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  12. "El Celta ficha a Andreu Fontàs por tres temporadas" [Celta sign Andreu Fontàs for three seasons] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  13. "Luis Enrique y el Celta, una relación muy productiva" [Luis Enrique and Celta, quite productive relationship] (in Spanish). La Liga. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  14. "Fontàs se desvincula del RC Celta tras cinco temporadas de entrega y profesionalidad" [Fontàs cuts ties with RC Celta after five seasons of effort and professionalism] (in Spanish). Celta Vigo. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  15. "Sporting KC signs 28-year-old Spanish defender Andreu Fontas". Sporting Kansas City. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  16. "Fontàs". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  17. Includes other competitive competitions, including the Supercopa de España, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup.
  18. "ITA – ESP 1:2 (0:0)" (PDF). Pescara 2009. 4 July 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
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