Miguel Palanca Fernández (born 18 December 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer. Mainly a right winger, he also operated as a forward.

Miguel Palanca
Personal information
Full name Miguel Palanca Fernández
Date of birth (1987-12-18) 18 December 1987 (age 36)
Place of birth Tarragona, Spain
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
La Salle
1998–2006 Espanyol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Espanyol B 49 (13)
2007 Espanyol 1 (0)
2008–2009 Real Madrid B 31 (5)
2008–2010 Real Madrid 3 (0)
2009–2010Castellón (loan) 36 (3)
2010–2013 Elche 71 (5)
2013–2015 Numancia 50 (5)
2015 Adelaide United 14 (1)
2015–2016 Gimnàstic 19 (1)
2016–2017 Korona Kielce 33 (6)
2017–2018 Anorthosis 23 (3)
2018–2019 Goa 7 (3)
2019 Gimnàstic 8 (0)
2019–2020 Andorra 12 (0)
2020–2021 Avilés 6 (0)
Total 363 (45)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Born in Tarragona, Catalonia, Palanca was a product of RCD Espanyol's youth academy, playing once for the first team in 2006–07 then spending the following season solely with the reserves. His La Liga debut arrived on 29 April 2007, as he came on as a substitute for Albert Riera during the second half of a 3–1 away loss against Sevilla FC.[2]

Subsequently, Palanca was sold to Real Madrid. On 13 December 2008 he made his debut for the main squad, replacing Wesley Sneijder in the first half of a 2–0 away defeat to FC Barcelona.[3] Again from the bench, he helped his team beat Valencia CF one week later at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (1–0).[4]

Palanca was loaned to CD Castellón of the Segunda División for 2009–10.[5] The following campaign, after the club's relegation, he signed a two-year contract with another side in that league, Elche CF, with Real Madrid having an option to re-buy on any given period during that timeframe.[6]

On 27 January 2015, after one and a half seasons with CD Numancia also in the second tier, Palanca signed with Australian club Adelaide United FC.[7][8] He was released at the end of the season, after his contract was not renewed.[9]

On 8 July 2015, Palanca signed a one-year deal with Gimnàstic de Tarragona, recently returned to the second tier.[10] He scored his first goals for his hometown team on 9 September in a 2–2 home draw with neighbours Girona FC in the second round of the Copa del Rey, also converting the decisive attempt in the subsequent penalty shootout.[11]

Palanca moved abroad again on 20 July 2016, agreeing to a two-year contract with Poland's Korona Kielce.[12] Coming from the bench, he netted his first goal on 6 August in a 4–1 home Ekstraklasa win over Lech Poznań.[13]

On 14 August 2018, Palanca joined Indian Super League club FC Goa.[14] The following 31 January, he returned to Gimnàstic on a short-term deal.[15] Later that year, he completed the 2019–20 season with Andorra, also in Segunda División B.

On 20 September 2020, Palanca signed a two-year contract with Tercera División club Avilés.[16] However, he suffered a femoral fracture in a match on 13 December 2020 against Praviano, which proved to be his final competitive game.[17] In September 2021, he announced his definitive retirement from football.[18]

Personal life

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Palanca's father, Santiago, played as a striker for Gimnàstic, scoring a record 48 goals at their Nou Estadi.[11]

Club statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Espanyol B 2006–07[19] Segunda División B 25 6 25 6
2007–08[19] Segunda División B 24 7 24 7
Total 49 13 49 13
Espanyol 2006–07[19] La Liga 1 0 0 0 1 0
Real Madrid B 2008–09[19] Segunda División B 31 5 31 5
Real Madrid 2008–09[19] La Liga 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Castellón (loan) 2009–10[19] Segunda División 36 10 0 0 36 10
Elche 2010–11[19] Segunda División 30 4 2 0 1[a] 0 33 4
2011–12[19] Segunda División 25 1 2 1 27 2
2012–13[19] Segunda División 16 0 1 0 17 0
Total 71 5 5 1 1 0 77 6
Numancia 2013–14[1] Segunda División 33 3 1 0 34 3
2014–15[1] Segunda División 17 2 0 0 17 2
Total 50 5 1 0 51 5
Adelaide United 2014–15[1] A-League 14 1 0 0 14 1
Gimnàstic 2015–16[19] Segunda División 19 1 1 2 20 3
Korona Kielce 2016–17[1] Ekstraklasa 33 6 1 0 34 6
Anorthosis 2017–18[1] Cypriot First Division 23 3 0 0 23 3
Goa 2018–19[1] Indian Super League 7 3 0 0 7 3
Gimnàstic 2018–19[1] Segunda División 8 0 0 0 8 0
Andorra 2019–20[1] Segunda División B 12 0 1 0 13 0
Avilés 2020–21[1] Tercera División 6 0 0 0 6 0
Career total 363 52 9 3 1 0 373 55
  1. ^ Appearance in Promotion playoff

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Palanca". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  2. ^ El Sevilla regresa a su versión liguera (Sevilla return to league version); El Mundo, 29 April 2007 (in Spanish)
  3. ^ El canterano Palanca reconoce que fue un debut "agridulce" (Youth system player Palanca acknowledges "bittersweet" debut); Europa Press, 14 December 2008 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ El Real Madrid recupera el pulso tras ganar al Valencia (Real Madrid regain pulse after beating Valencia); El Correo Gallego, 20 December 2008 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Palanca llega cedido por una temporada del Real Madrid (Palanca arrives on loan from Real Madrid for one season); Marca, 25 August 2009 (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Palanca ficha por el Elche (Palanca signs for Elche); Defensa Central, 2 July 2010 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Spain’s Miguel Palanca set to join Adelaide United for A-League; The Advertiser, 26 January 2015
  8. ^ Adelaide United and FFA clash after Fabio Ferreira departs for Central Coast Mariners; The Advertiser, 27 January 2015
  9. ^ Hyundai A-League transfer wrap; Football Federation Australia, 30 June 2015
  10. ^ Miguel Palanca se convierte en jugador grana (Miguel Palanca becomes a grana player); Gimnàstic Tarragona, 8 July 2015 (in Spanish)
  11. ^ a b "Palanca, con nombre propio" [Palanca, name in his own right] (in Spanish). Diari de Tarragona. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Miguel Palanca tornarà a provar sort lluny de casa" [Miguel Palanca will try his luck abroad again] (in Catalan). Esports del Camp. 20 July 2016. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Palanca se estrena como goleador con el Korona Kielce" [Palanca scored his first goal for Korona Kielce] (in Spanish). Diari Més. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  14. ^ "ISL: FC Goa sign Spaniard Miguel Palanca". The Times of India. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Miguel Palanca ficha por el Nàstic" [Miguel Palanca signs for Nàstic] (in Spanish). Gimnàstic Tarragona. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  16. ^ Gutiérrez, Nacho (20 September 2020). "El Real Avilés ficha al exjugador del Real Madrid Miguel Palanca". El Comercio: Diario de Asturias (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  17. ^ Gutiérrez, Nacho (27 December 2020). "Avilés pierde a Palanca hasta febrero por la rotura de un hueso en el fémur". El Comercio: Diario de Asturias (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  18. ^ Mercadé, Joan (23 September 2021). "El tarragoní Miguel Palanca deixa el futbol". Tarragona Ràdio (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Palanca: Miquel Palanca Fernández". BDFutbol. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
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