Quique de Lucas

Enrique "Quique" de Lucas Martínez (born 17 August 1978) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is De Lucas and the second or maternal family name is Martínez.

Enrique de Lucas
Personal information
Full name Enrique de Lucas Martínez
Date of birth (1978-08-17) 17 August 1978[1]
Place of birth L'Hospitalet, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) 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)
2001 → Paris 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)
International career
1995 Spain U16 7 (1)
1998–1999 Spain U21 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He started his professional career with Espanyol, going on to amass La Liga totals of 168 games and 25 goals over eight seasons, also representing in the competition Alavés, Murcia and Celta. He added 268 matches and 53 goals 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 came through the academy of RCD Espanyol, making his first-team debut on 15 May 1998 away against Real Valladolid (his sole appearance of the season) and being promoted to the main squad immediately afterwards. Subsequently, he became an important attacking element for the Pericos, appearing in 30 La Liga matches 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 on a four-year deal,[2] being relatively used in his first and only season. His sole goal for the English team was a well-executed chip in the UEFA Cup against Viking FK, in a 2–1 home win but 4–5 loss on aggregate.[3]

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 times from 40 appearances as the Basque side returned to the top level after two years, being immediately relegated the following campaign.

After another season in division two, de Lucas became Real Murcia's first signing after it achieved a top-flight return in 2007, agreeing on a two-year contract.[4] He featured heavily in his first year, notably scoring in a 1–1 home draw against Real Madrid,[5] but the club returned to the second tier.

In August 2009, de Lucas had a trial with Football League Championship's Blackpool after his Murcia link had expired,[6] alongside Will Haining and Ishmel Demontagnac.[7] A deal did not materialise, and he signed with FC Cartagena – recently returned to the second division – shortly after;[8] he scored the first goal of the new campaign, a 1–0 victory at Girona FC.[9]

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,[10] de Lucas moved to RC Celta de Vigo. 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 runners-up.[11][12]

After suffering relegation from the second tier, with Hércules CF,[13] de Lucas retired from football at the age of 35. In February 2015, however, he returned to active, joining English amateurs Biggleswade United.[14]

International career

De Lucas made four appearances for the Spain under-21 side, in a one-year span.[2][15]

Honours

Espanyol

References
  1. "Enrique De Lucas". Eurosport. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  2. "De Lucas opts for Chelsea". UEFA. 28 May 2002. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  3. "Chelsea edge past Viking". BBC Sport. 19 September 2002. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  4. "De Lucas ficha por el recién ascendido Real Murcia" [De Lucas signs for recently promoted Real Murcia]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). 20 June 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  5. Melero, Delfín (24 November 2007). "El Madrid resbala en suelo pimentonero" [Madrid slip in pimentonero ground]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  6. "Team news from Oldham". Blackpool F.C. 1 August 2009. Archived from the original on 3 August 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
  7. "Adam switch to Blackpool back on". BBC Sport. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  8. Gómez, Iván (7 August 2009). "Quique de Lucas cambia Murcia por Cartagena" [Quique de Lucas changes Murcia for Cartagena]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  9. "De Lucas abre la lata de los goles en Segunda" [De Lucas opens can of goals in Segunda]. Marca (in Spanish). 29 August 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  10. Serrano, Rubén (12 December 2018). "El 'gentleman' de Benipila" [The gentleman of Benipila]. La Verdad (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  11. Gozalo, Víctor M. (2 June 2012). "Iago Aspas, Oubiña y De Lucas, claves en el ascenso" [Iago Aspas, Oubiña and De Lucas, key to promotion] (in Spanish). Te Interesa. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  12. "Quique de Lucas" (in Spanish). Yo Jugué en el Celta. 21 July 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  13. "Pésima segunda vuelta condena al descenso a un Hércules con aspiraciones" [Horrible second part of season dooms aspiring Hércules to relegation]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 1 June 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  14. "Ex-Barcelona & Chelsea star joins United". Pitchero. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  15. "Los Sub-21 logran empatar, pero aburren" [The Under-21s manage to draw, but they are boring]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 18 November 1998. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
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