Sergi Samper

Sergi Samper Montaña (born 20 January 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for FC Andorra.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Samper and the second or maternal family name is Montaña.
Sergi Samper
Samper with Barcelona Juvenil in 2012
Personal information
Full name Sergi Samper Montaña[1]
Date of birth (1995-01-20) 20 January 1995[2]
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Andorra
Number 8
Youth career
2001–2013 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Barcelona B 103 (0)
2014–2019 Barcelona 1 (0)
2016–2017 → Granada (loan) 22 (0)
2017–2018 → Las Palmas (loan) 2 (0)
2019–2023 Vissel Kobe 88 (0)
2023– Andorra 7 (0)
International career
2011 Spain U16 6 (0)
2011–2012 Spain U17 8 (2)
2013 Spain U18 2 (0)
2013–2014 Spain U19 4 (1)
2014–2016 Spain U21 3 (0)
2015–2018 Catalonia 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 08:36, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

Formed at Barcelona from the age of six, he featured mainly for the reserve team and made 13 first-team appearances, of which only one in La Liga, where he played 22 further games for Granada and Las Palmas while on loan. In 2019 he moved to Japanese club Vissel Kobe, totalling 107 matches and winning the Emperor's Cup in his first year.

Club career

Barcelona

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Samper joined FC Barcelona's youth setup in 2001 at age 6, after a successful trial.[3] On 9 May 2013, he signed a four-year professional contract.[4]

On 10 June 2013, Samper was promoted to the reserves who competed in the Segunda División.[5] He made his professional debut on 17 August in a 2–1 away defeat against CD Mirandés,[6] appearing in a further 39 matches during the season to help to a third-place finish.

Samper made his first-team debut on 17 September 2014, starting in a 1–0 home victory over APOEL FC in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League;[7] this made him the first player to rise through all of the ranks from the age of six.[8] His first match in La Liga took place the following 12 March, when he came on as a 59th-minute substitute for Andrés Iniesta in the 6–0 home rout of Getafe CF.[9]

In July 2016, Samper extended his contract until 2019 with a one-year further option and a buyout clause of €50 million,[8] and in the following month he joined Granada CF on a season-long loan.[10] After the Andalusians relegation, he was not issued a squad number in August 2017 by Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde[11] and was sent to UD Las Palmas on another temporary deal.[12] The spell was cut short in January 2019 after a fibula fracture and left-ankle internal ligament break.[13]

Vissel Kobe

On 4 March 2019, Samper terminated his contract with Barcelona and left the Camp Nou after 18 years.[14] Three days later, he joined J1 League club Vissel Kobe on a four-year deal.[15][16]

Playing alongside former Barcelona players Iniesta and David Villa, Samper won the Emperor's Cup in his first year in Japan, but was absent from the final victory over Kashima Antlers.[17] The following 8 February he started in the Super Cup, a penalty shootout win over Yokohama F. Marinos after a 3–3 draw.[18]

Andorra

Samper returned to the Spanish second division on 28 July 2023, after agreeing to a two-year contract with FC Andorra.[19]

International career

Samper won his first cap for the Spain under-21 team on 12 November 2014 at the age of 19, playing the entire 1–4 friendly home loss to Belgium.[20]

Personal life

Samper's older brother Jordi is a professional tennis player.[21] He played the game himself, until choosing football at six.[22]

Samper has type 1 diabetes, and befriended Borja Mayoral, who shares his condition, in the Spanish youth teams.[23]

Career statistics
As of match played 30 September 2023[24][25]
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Barcelona B 2013–14 Segunda División 400————400
2014–15 Segunda División 340————340
2015–16 Segunda División B 290————290
Total 1030————1030
Barcelona 2014–15 La Liga 0030—1[lower-alpha 3]0—40
2015–16 La Liga 1030—2[lower-alpha 3]01[lower-alpha 4]070
2016–17 La Liga 0000—001[lower-alpha 5]010
2018–19 La Liga 0010—000010
Total 1070003020130
Granada (loan) 2016–17 La Liga 22010———230
Las Palmas (loan) 2017–18 La Liga 2030———50
Vissel Kobe 2019 J1 League 2405120——311
2020 260—10001[lower-alpha 6]0280
2021 3202030——370
2022 6000001[lower-alpha 7]0—70
2023 001030——40
Total 880819010101071
Andorra 2023–24 Segunda División 5 0 0 0 — — 0 0 5 0
Career total 22101919040302561
  1. Includes Copa del Rey, Emperor's Cup
  2. Includes J.League Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  4. Appearance in FIFA Club World Cup
  5. Appearance in Supercopa de España
  6. Appearance in Japanese Super Cup
  7. Appearance in AFC Champions League

Honours

Barcelona

Vissel Kobe

References
  1. "Acta del partido celebrado el 29 de agosto de 2015, en Sabadell" [Minutes of the match held on 29 August 2015, in Sabadell] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  2. "Sergi Samper". Diario AS. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  3. Domènech, Oriol (9 May 2013). "Samper: el Pirlo de la cantera" [Samper: the youth system's Pirlo]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  4. Domènech, Oriol (9 May 2013). "El Barça apuesta por Sergi Samper, que renueva por cuatro temporadas" [Barça bet on Sergi Samper, who renews for four seasons]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  5. "Siete juveniles suben al Barça B para la temporada 2013/14" [Seven youth players promoted to Barça B for the 2013/14 season] (in Spanish). FC Barcelona. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  6. "Prieto sostiene al Mirandés" [Prieto sustains Mirandés]. Marca (in Spanish). 17 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  7. Kemp, Jamie (17 September 2014). "Samper: Making my debut in this competition is priceless". Inside Spanish Football. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  8. "Munir El Haddadi and Sergi Samper sign new three-year deals at Barcelona". Sky Sports. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  9. Capdevila, Josep (12 March 2016). "Sergi Samper debuta en Liga con el Barcelona" [Sergi Samper makes League debut with Barcelona]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  10. "Agreement with Granada for loan of Sergi Samper". FC Barcelona. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  11. "El Barcelona deja sin dorsal a Sergi Samper, canterano que llevaba en el club desde los seis años" [Barcelona leave Sergi Samper, academy player at the club since the age of six, without a squad number] (in Spanish). LaSexta. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  12. "Las Palmas y Barcelona acuerdan la cesión del centrocampista Samper" [Las Palmas and Barcelona agree on loan of midfielder Samper] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  13. "La UD Las Palmas, el FC Barcelona y Sergi Samper acuerdan la finalización de la cesión" [UD Las Palmas, FC Barcelona and Sergi Samper agree to end loan] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  14. "Agreement for the cancellation of Sergi Samper's contract". FC Barcelona. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  15. "FCバルセロナ（スペイン）よりMFセルジ サンペール選手 完全移籍加入のお知らせ" [FC Barcelona (Spain) announce transfer completion of midfielder Sergi Samper] (in Japanese). Vissel Kobe. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  16. "Sergi Samper leaves Barcelona for Vissel Kobe". Marca. 2 March 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  17. "Villa termina su carrera con la Copa Emperador del Vissel Kobe" [Villa ends his career with the Emperor's Cup for Vissel Kobe] (in Spanish). Notimérica. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  18. Duerden, John (8 February 2020). "Andres Iniesta lifts Japan Super Cup after nine straight pen misses". ESPN. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  19. "Sergi Samper, incorporació de luxe pel centre del camp" [Sergi Samper, luxury signing for midfield] (in Catalan). FC Andorra. 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  20. Cudeiro, Juan Luis (12 November 2014). "Tsunami belga a la nueva ola española" [Belgian tsunami to the new Spanish wave]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  21. Rubio, David (26 June 2014). "Sergi Samper: Un Guardiola adaptado a los tiempos modernos" [Sergi Samper: A Guardiola adapted to modern times]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  22. Navarro, Cristina (19 September 2014). "Ex-tennis hopeful makes a racket at Camp Nou". Marca. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  23. "Borja Mayoral y Samper, sobre la diabetes: "En los primeros meses tuve miedo"" [Borja Mayoral and Samper, on diabetes: "In the first months I was scared"]. Marca (in Spanish). 21 April 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  24. Sergi Samper at Soccerway
  25. Sergi Samper at ESPN FC
  26. "Andrés Iniesta skippers Vissel Kobe to first trophy in David Villa's final match". Diario AS. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  27. Duerden, John (8 February 2020). "Andres Iniesta lifts Japan Super Cup after nine straight pen misses". ESPN. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
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