Jeison Fabián Murillo Cerón (born 27 May 1992) is a Colombian 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 ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Italian club U.C. Sampdoria and the Colombia national team.

Club career

Early years and Granada

Born in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the secon ...

, Murillo signed with

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a f ...

in Italy shortly after his 18th birthday, being immediately loaned to

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021 ...

as part of the partnership agreement between both clubs. He spent his first year in Spain with the reserves, in the regional leagues. In early February 2012, Murillo was definitely bought by the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

ns, but spent the following seasons on loan to clubs also in the country,

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20 ...

and

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

. He scored four official goals in his first year as a professional, including a brace on 9 March 2013 in a 3–2 away win against

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

in the Segunda División. He appeared in the promotion playoffs with both teams, being unsuccessful on both occasions. Murillo returned to Granada in the middle of 2013, making his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

debut on 18 August 2013 in a 2–1 win at

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

(90 minutes played). He netted his first goal in the competition on 10 January of the following year, the first in a 4–0 home victory over

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

Inter Milan

In February 2015, Murillo joined

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

on a five-year contract, with the transfer being made effective in July and costing a reported €8 million plus €2 million in bonuses, and earning the player €1 million per year. He made his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

debut on 23 August, playing the entire 1–0 home win against Atalanta BC.

Valencia

On 18 August 2017, Murillo returned to Spain by joining

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the S ...

on a two-year loan with an obligation to buy. He contributed 17 matches in his first season, which ended in qualification to the group stage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

after a fourth-place finish. On 20 December 2018, Murillo joined

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

on a loan deal until the end of the campaign with a purchase option worth €25 million. His first competitive appearance took place three weeks later, in a 1–2 away loss to

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a Spanish football club in Valencia, in the namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante play in Segunda División, holding home games at Ci ...

in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

where he played 90 minutes and was booked. He also started in the second leg, a 3–0 win at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barc ...

Sampdoria

On 13 July 2019, still owned by Valencia, Murillo signed with U.C. Sampdoria for an initial loan fee of €2 million and an obligation to buy for €13 million at the end of the season. On 15 January 2020, the Italian club bought out his rights and loaned him to

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...

until 30 June, with an option to purchase. Murillo agreed to another loan at the

Balaídos The Estadio Municipal de Balaídos (), known as Abanca-Balaídos for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium located in Vigo, Spain. It is owned by the Vigo's city council, and is the home of La Liga club Celta Vigo. The stadium opened o ...

on 16 September 2020. On 31 August of the following year, a similar move was arranged.

International career

Murillo made his debut for Colombia on 10 October 2014, playing 30 minutes in a 3–0 friendly win over

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by ...

. He was included in the squad for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

, scoring the only goal in the second group stage game against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. During the quarter-final match against eventual finalists

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

, he put on a strong performance in the 0–0 draw, but was one of three Colombian players to miss his

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

attempt; he was subsequently named "Best Young Player" of the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

(Colombia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Murillo goal)

Honours

Barcelona *

: 2018–19 Valencia *

: 2018–19 Colombia U20 *

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

: 2011 Colombia *

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

third place: 2016 Individual *

Best Young Player / Team of the Tournament:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murillo, Jeison 1992 births Living people Colombian people of African descent Colombian footballers Footballers from Cali Association football defenders Deportivo Cali footballers Serie A players Udinese Calcio players Inter Milan players U.C. Sampdoria players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players Club Recreativo Granada players Granada CF footballers Cádiz CF players UD Las Palmas players Valencia CF players FC Barcelona players RC Celta de Vigo players Colombia youth international footballers Colombia under-20 international footballers Colombia international footballers 2015 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players Colombian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Italy Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Italy