Junior Firpo

Héctor Junior Firpo Adames (born 22 August 1996), known as Junior Firpo or simply Junior, is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL Championship club Leeds United. Mainly a left-back, he can also play as a centre-back or right-back.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Firpo and the second or maternal family name is Adames.
Junior Firpo
Firpo with Leeds United in 2021
Personal information
Full name Héctor Junior Firpo Adames[1]
Date of birth (1996-08-22) 22 August 1996
Place of birth Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Leeds United
Number 3
Youth career
2011–2012 Atlético Benamiel
2012–2013 Tiro Pichón
2013–2014 Puerto Malagueño
2014–2015 Betis
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Betis B 45 (2)
2018–2019 Betis 38 (5)
2019–2021 Barcelona 24 (2)
2021– Leeds United 43 (1)
International career
2015 Dominican Republic 1 (0)
2018–2019 Spain U21 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:42, 28 May 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Real Betis

Firpo was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and moved to Benalmádena, Málaga, Andalusia at the age of six[3] and joined Real Betis' youth setup in June 2014, aged 18, from Puerto Malagueño.[4] He made his senior debut with the reserves on 15 February 2015, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Granada B in the Segunda División B.

Definitely promoted to the B-side ahead of the 2015–16 season, Junior appeared regularly during the season, which ended in relegation. On 17 April 2016 he scored his first senior goal, netting the third in a 4–0 away win over Algeciras..

On 1 August 2017, after spending the whole pre-season with the main squad, Junior renewed his contract until 2021.[5] He made his first team – and La Liga – debut the following 12 February, starting in a 1–0 away defeat of Deportivo La Coruña, becoming the first Dominican Republic-born player to have ever featured in La Liga.[6]

Junior scored his first professional goal on 17 March 2018, netting the first in a 3–0 home win against Espanyol.[7] On 19 August, after being promoted to the main squad, he agreed to a contract extension until 2023.[8]

Barcelona

On 4 August 2019, Junior signed a five-year deal with Barcelona for €18 million plus €12 million in add-ons.[9] He made his debut three weeks later in a 5–2 home win over his former club Betis, playing the last nine minutes in place of Rafinha.[10] On 28 September, Junior scored his first goal for Barcelona and the second goal against Getafe in a 2–0 win.[11] On 27 November, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 3–1 group stage victory over Borussia Dortmund.[12]

On 13 February 2021, Firpo scored his second (and last) goal for Barça in a 5–1 home win over Alavés.[13]

Leeds United

On 6 July 2021, Firpo signed a four-year deal with Premier League club Leeds United for a fee of €15 million plus add-ons, with Barcelona reserving rights to 20% of his future sales. He was expected to replace Ezgjan Alioski at the left back role after Alioski's contract expired,[14][15] and made his debut for the club in that position on 14 August in the second half of the season opener at Old Trafford, where he came on as a tactical substitute for Rodrigo in a 5–1 loss.[16]

He scored his first goal for the club in Leeds’ 3–1 win in the FA Cup fourth round at the Wham Stadium over Accrington Stanley on 28 January 2023.[17] On 25 February 2023, Firpo scored his first Premier League goal, and the first goal of new manager Javi Gracia’s reign in a 1–0 win against Southampton at Elland Road.[18]

International career

Despite being born in the Dominican Republic, he has spent the majority of his life in Spain and continues to hold citizenship for both countries.[6] On 9 October 2015, he played the entire second half of a 0–6 non-FIFA friendly loss for the Dominican Republic senior national team against the Brazil Olympic team.[19]

On 31 August 2018, Junior was called up to the Spain under-21 team for two 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying matches against Albania and Northern Ireland.[20] He made his debut on 7 September, starting in a 3–0 win against the former.[21]

Career statistics
As of match played 28 May 2023
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Betis B 2014–15 Segunda División B 2000———20
2015–16 30100———301
2017–18[22] 13100———131
Total 45200———452
Real Betis 2017–18[22] La Liga 14200———142
2018–19[23] 24310—4[lower-alpha 1]0—293
Total 38510—40—435
Barcelona 2019–20[24] La Liga 17120—4[lower-alpha 2]000231
2020–21[25] 7140—6[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0181
Total 24260—10010412
Leeds United 2021–22[26] Premier League 2401020——270
2022–23[27] 1914110——242
Total 4315130——512
Career total 15010121301401018011
  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. Appearance(s) in Supercopa de España

Honours

Barcelona

Spain U21

References
  1. "Updated squad lists for 2022/23 Premier League". Premier League. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  2. "Junior Firpo: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  3. "Juvenil | Junior Firpo, "Black Power" para el juvenil del Real Betis" [Juvenil | Junior Firpo, "Black Power" for Real Betis' youth team] (in Spanish). Futbol Carrasco. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  4. "El Betis cierra varios fichajes para su cantera" [Betis complete various signings for their youth setup] (in Spanish). Manquepierda. 20 June 2014. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  5. "Junior extends his contract with Real Betis". Real Betis. 1 August 2017. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  6. Lastra, Luis (23 February 2018). "Junior: "Cuando llegué a España, no sabía ni qué era el fútbol"" [Junior: «When I arrived in Spain, I did not even know what football was»] (in Spanish). El Correo de Andalucía. Retrieved 31 August 2018. I have dual citizenship because I've been here (in Spain) for fifteen years. It is not that I consider myself more Spanish than Dominican, because I feel very proud of being Dominican and of my country, but I have been here for a long time and I also consider myself Spanish.
  7. "El Betis mira a Europa en la noche negra de Pau" [Betis aim to Europa in Pau's dark night] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 17 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  8. "Junior and Real Betis extend the existing contract between them until 2023". Real Betis. 19 August 2018. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  9. "Barça sign Junior Firpo". FC Barcelona. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  10. "Junior Firpo: Barcelona apologise over Betis tweet". BBC Sport. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  11. Pettigrove, Jason (28 September 2019). "Getafe CF 0–2 FC Barcelona: A capital victory". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  12. Roberts, Mike (28 November 2019). "Barça 3-1 Borussia Dortmund: WunderBarça!". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  13. "Barça 5-1 Alavés: Fantasy football". FC Barcelona. 13 February 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  14. "Agreement with Leeds United for the transfer of Junior Firpo". FC Barcelona. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  15. "Junior Firpo: Leeds sign Barcelona full-back for undisclosed fee as Ezgjan Alioski replacement". Sky Sports. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  16. "Manchester United 5-1 Leeds United". BBC Sport. 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  17. Bower, Aaron (28 January 2023). "Jack Harrison ensures Leeds avoid embarrassment against Accrington". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  18. Dawkes, Phil (25 February 2023). "Leeds beat Saints to move out of relegation zone". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  19. "Seleção olímpica arrasa a frágil República Dominicana em Manaus" [Olympic national team thrash the fragile Dominican Republic in Manaus] (in Portuguese). Rolando a Bola. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  20. "OFICIAL | Esta es la convocatoria para los partidos ante Albania e Irlanda del Norte" [OFFICIAL | This is the call-up for the matches against Albania and Northern Ireland] (in Spanish). Selección Española de Fútbol. 31 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 October 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  21. "3–0: España vence a Albania y sella su pase a la Eurocopa sub-21" [3–0: Spain defeat Albania and seal their qualification to the under-21 EURO] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  22. "Games played by Junior Firpo in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  23. "Games played by Junior Firpo in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  24. "Games played by Junior Firpo in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  25. "Games played by Junior Firpo in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  26. "Games played by Junior Firpo in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  27. "Games played by Junior Firpo in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  28. "Spain U21 2–1 Germany U21". 30 June 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
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