Lago Junior

Lago Junior Wakalible (born 31 December 1990), known as Junior, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Racing de Santander.

Lago Junior
Personal information
Full name Lago Junior Wakalible[1]
Date of birth (1990-12-31) 31 December 1990[1]
Place of birth Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Racing Santander
Number 20
Youth career
Joël Tiéhi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Issia Wazy 29 (17)
2009–2013 Numancia 68 (6)
2010–2011 → Eibar (loan) 32 (9)
2013–2015 Gimnàstic 72 (13)
2015–2016 Mirandés 22 (7)
2016–2023 Mallorca 196 (36)
2022 → Huesca (loan) 13 (0)
2023 Málaga 17 (4)
2023– Racing Santander 4 (1)
International career‡
2020– Ivory Coast 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:57, 27 September 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 June 2021

Club career

Numancia

Born in Abidjan, Junior began his football career at the Centre de Formation Joël Tiéhi, a school founded by former player Joël Tiéhi. He made his senior debut with Issia Wazy in 2007, scoring at an excellent rate.[2]

On 31 January 2009, Junior moved to Spain and signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with CD Numancia.[3] He made his La Liga debut on 18 April, playing ten minutes in a 3–0 away loss against Atlético Madrid.[4] He only appeared in four more matches until the end of the season, all as a substitute, and the Soria team were relegated as 19th.[5]

Junior joined SD Eibar on 27 August 2010, in a season-long loan.[6] Two days later, he scored twice on his official debut for the Segunda División B club, a 2–1 home win over CF Palencia.[7]

Gimnàstic and Mirandés

On 13 July 2013, after a further two Segunda División campaigns with Numancia,[5] Junior remained in the country and signed for Gimnàstic de Tarragona from division three.[8] On 22 July 2015, after achieving promotion, he moved to CD Mirandés of the second tier.[9]

Mallorca

On 28 January 2016, Junior agreed to a €300,000 deal at second-division RCD Mallorca.[10] After suffering relegation at the end of the 2016–17 campaign[11] he went on to help the side to earn two consecutive promotions,[12][13] netting a career-best 11 goals in 2018–19.[14]

Junior subsequently lost his importance in the squad.[15] In December 2021, he was loaned to SD Huesca.[16]

On 11 January 2023, Junior terminated his contract by mutual consent.[17]

Later career

Immediately after leaving Mallorca, Junior joined Málaga CF on a free transfer, signing until June 2024 with an option for another year.[18] On 15 June 2023, having been relegated, he moved to fellow second-tier club Racing de Santander on a two-year contract.[19]

International career

Junior won his first cap for the Ivory Coast national team on 13 October 2020 at the age of nearly 30, replacing Gervinho late into the 1–0 friendly defeat to Japan in Utrecht, Netherlands.[20]

Career statistics

Club
As of 11 January 2023[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Numancia 2008–09 La Liga 5000—50
2009–10 Segunda División 22310—233
2011–12 Segunda División 26200—262
2012–13 Segunda División 15110—161
Total 6862000706
Eibar (loan) 2010–11 Segunda División B 329004[lower-alpha 1]0369
Gimnàstic 2013–14 Segunda División B 3710405[lower-alpha 1]24612
2014–15 Segunda División B 353104[lower-alpha 1]2405
Total 721350948617
Mirandés 2015–16 Segunda División 22752—279
Mallorca 2015–16 Segunda División 20300—203
2016–17 Segunda División 40600—406
2017–18 Segunda División B 268004[lower-alpha 1]1309
2018–19 Segunda División 4011004[lower-alpha 1]04411
2019–20 La Liga 35400—354
2020–21 Segunda División 24420—264
2021–22 La Liga 6000—60
2022–23 La Liga 5010—60
Total 19636308120741
Career total 3747215221542678
  1. Appearance(s) in Promotion Playoffs

International
As of match played 5 June 2021[22]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Ivory Coast 202030
202120
Total50

References
  1. "Lago Junior". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  2. "Raúl Bravo, Kelemen y Lago Junior, nuevos refuerzos para el Numancia" [Raúl Bravo, Kelemen and Lago Junior, new additions for Numancia] (in Spanish). El Numancia. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  3. "Numancia swoops for trio". The Sports Network. 31 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
  4. "El Atlético alegra a sus Peñas" [Atlético cheer up their supporter groups]. Marca (in Spanish). 18 April 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  5. "Breve enciclopedia numantina" [Brief numantina encyclopedia]. Desde Soria (in Spanish). 29 May 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  6. "Y Lago Junior jugará cedido en el Eibar" [And Lago Junior will play on loan at Eibar]. Heraldo de Soria (in Spanish). 28 August 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  7. "Lago Junior, el máximo goleador y Raúl Gañan destaca por su experiencia" [Lago Junior, top scorer and Raúl Gañan showcases experience]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 31 August 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  8. "El Nàstic incorpora Lago Junior" [Nàstic add Lago Junior] (in Catalan). Gimnàstic Tarragona. 13 July 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  9. "Lago Junior jugará las dos próximas temporadas en Anduva" [Lago Junior will play the next two seasons at Anduva] (in Spanish). CD Mirandés. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  10. "Lago Junior deja el Mirandés y ficha por el Mallorca" [Lago Junior leaves Mirandés and signs for Mallorca]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 28 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  11. "La afición del Mallorca, sobre el descenso: "Lo peor en 101 años"" [Mallorca faithful, on relegation: "The worst in 101 years"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 10 June 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  12. Trives, Luis Ángel (24 June 2019). "Vicente Moreno, un especialista en ascensos" [Vicente Moreno, specialist in promotions]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  13. García Marcos, Esteban (24 June 2019). "Lago Júnior asegura tras el ascenso del Mallorca que su mujer le tiene "cogido por los..."" [Lago Júnior confirms after Mallorca promotion that his wife has "got him by the..."]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  14. Otero, Jorge (25 September 2019). "El Mallorca echa de menos los goles de Lago Júnior" [Mallorca missing Lago Júnior's goals]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  15. Forteza, Gabriel (17 March 2021). "El ostracismo de Lago Junior" [The ostracism of Lago Junior]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  16. "Lago Junior, primer fichaje de invierno para la SD Huesca" [Lago Junior, first winter signing for SD Huesca] (in Spanish). SD Huesca. 28 December 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  17. "Lago Junior se desvincula del RCD Mallorca" [Lago Junior cuts ties with RCD Mallorca] (in Spanish). RCD Mallorca. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  18. "Lago Junior, alas para la banda izquierda de La Rosaleda" [Lago Junior, wings for La Rosaleda's left flank] (in Spanish). Málaga CF. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  19. "Lago Junior, primer fichaje del Racing 2023/24" [Lago Junior, first signing of Racing 2023/24] (in Spanish). Racing Santander. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  20. "Football/Match amical Côte d'Ivoire-Japon (0–1): Les Samouraïs frappent, les Eléphants tombent" [Football/Friendly match Ivory Coast-Japan (0–1): Samurais hit, Elephants fall] (in French). La Synthèse. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  21. Lago Junior at Soccerway
  22. "L. Junior – Matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
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