Fernando Calero Villa (born 14 September 1995) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

Club career

Malaga

Calero was born in Boecillo,

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

, and finished his formation with

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

. He made his senior debut with the reserves on 9 March 2014, starting in a 2–1

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

home win against

Loja CD Loja Club Deportivo is a Spanish football team based in Loja, Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1968 it currently plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Medina Lauxa'', with a 1,250-seat capacity. History Club ...

. Calero scored his first senior goal on 31 January 2015, netting the first in a 2–2 away draw against

UD Maracena Unión Deportiva Maracena is a Spanish football team based in Maracena, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1945, it currently plays in , holding home matches at ''Ciudad Deportiva de Maracena'', with a 2,000-seat capacity. Sea ...

Valladolid

On 23 June of the following year he joined

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

, club he already represented as a youth, being initially assigned to the B-team in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. In his only season with the side, he was an undisputed starter, scoring once in 37 appearances. On 8 August 2017, Calero was definitely promoted to the main squad in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

by manager

Luis César Sampedro Luis Ángel César Sampedro (born 3 May 1966), known as Luis César, is a Spanish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently manager of Gimnàstic de Tarragona. Playing career Born in Vilagarcía de Arousa, Province of Pontevedra, ...

, being handed the number 5 jersey. He made his professional debut on 6 September, coming on as a substitute for fellow youth graduate Ángel in a 2–0 away win against

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

, for the season's

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. On 15 November 2017, Calero renewed his contract until 2021. He scored his first professional goal the following 27 May, in a 2–3 away loss against

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

, and featured regularly during the campaign as his side achieved promotion to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

. Calero made his debut in the main category of Spanish football on 17 August 2018, starting in a 0–0 away draw against

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

Espanyol

On 9 August 2019, Calero agreed to a five-year contract with

for a reported fee of €8 million. His release clause was set at €40 million.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

Profile
at the RCD Espanyol website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calero, Fernando 1995 births Living people Footballers from the Province of Valladolid Spanish men's footballers Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Atlético Malagueño players Real Valladolid Promesas players Real Valladolid players RCD Espanyol footballers 21st-century Spanish sportsmen