David Fuster

David Fuster Torrijos (born 3 February 1982) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fuster and the second or maternal family name is Torrijos.

David Fuster
Fuster in action for Olympiacos in 2012
Personal information
Full name David Fuster Torrijos
Date of birth (1982-02-03) 3 February 1982
Place of birth Oliva, Spain
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1992–2002 UD Oliva
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 UD Oliva 40 (12)
2004–2008 Villarreal B 58 (13)
2008–2009 Elche 36 (13)
2009–2010 Villarreal 22 (3)
2010–2016 Olympiacos 111 (29)
2016–2017 Getafe 22 (1)
Total 289 (59)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

After starting out at Villarreal B – he also represented the first team in the 2009–10 season – he went on to spend most of his professional career at Olympiacos, appearing in more than 150 competitive matches and win nine major titles, including six consecutive national championships.

Club career

Villarreal

Fuster was born in Oliva, Valencia. Aged already 22 he was signed from his hometown club by Villarreal CF, but spent four years exclusively with its reserves, helping the team promote to the third division in 2007.

In 2008, Fuster was sold to neighbours Elche CF, with an option to rebuy afterwards. After a solid 2008–09 season in the second level – he was the club's topscorer at 13, tied for tenth in the league – he was rebought by Villarreal for a mere €500.000.[1] He received relative amount of playing time in his debut year, scoring his first goal for the club in the 2–3 away defeat against Sevilla FC on 8 November 2009;[2] on 2 January 2010 he added another, in the club's 1–1 draw at La Liga and UEFA Champions League champions FC Barcelona.[3]

Olympiacos

In late August 2010, 28-year-old Fuster signed for Olympiacos F.C. in Greece for the amount of €1,500,000, rejoining former Villarreal acquaintances Ariel Ibagaza and Ernesto Valverde (manager).[4] In his first season he won the league and reached the quarter-finals in the domestic cup, ranking third in the goal scorers' chart and leading the team in minutes played.

On 28 September 2011, Fuster scored his first goal in the Champions League, in a 1–2 away defeat against Arsenal.[5] He also netted in the second game between the two sides (3–1 home win),[6] as the Piraeus team finished third in their group, being relegated to the UEFA Europa League; in the latter competition his second-half strike gave his team a 1–0 away win over FC Rubin Kazan in the round of 32 (eventually 2–0 on aggregate).[7] In the next round he repeated the feat against FC Metalist Kharkiv,[8] who however won the second leg 2–1 in Athens to progress, with the player featuring the 90 minutes[9] and finishing as club top scorer in the tournament with four goals.

On 28 April 2012, in the 119th minute of the final of the Greek Cup, Fuster scored from a Vasilis Torosidis assist for the 2–1 winner against Atromitos FC, after having come on as a late substitute.[10] During the 2012–13 campaign, as Leonardo Jardim was at the helm of the team, he suffered a dip in form, also being injured for two months; when he returned, however, Jardim's replacement Míchel showed confidence in his compatriot.[11][12]

On 7 April 2013, Fuster scored his third and last goal in the season, contributing to a 4–0 success at Platanias F.C.[13] as Olympiacos won its third national championship in a row. On 15 March of the following year he netted another, with his team downing Panthrakikos F.C. 2–0 at home and renewing its domestic supremacy.[14]

After a successful 2014–15, which ended with double conquest, 33-year-old Fuster eventually extended his contract for a further two years.[15][16] His renewal was also a satisfaction for his former coach Ernesto Valverde, who mentioned "Fuster is a perfect player for the club because of the similarities in character. I am also proud for the club because I love it, and I want it to have the best players".[17]

On 2 September 2015, Fuster was left out of newly appointed manager Marco Silva's Champions League squad.[18] He appeared rarely during the season but, on 28 February 2016, helped with a brace to a 3–0 home win against Veria F.C. that confirmed Olympiacos' 43rd national championship.[19]

On 15 June 2016, Fuster announced in the social media that his contract would not be renewed.[20]

Getafe

On 4 July 2016, Fuster signed a one-year deal with Getafe CF.[21] His only goal during the season came on 17 June 2017 in the promotion play-offs, when he came from the bench to help the hosts defeat SD Huesca 3–0 (5–2 on aggregate).[22]

On 25 June 2017, after finally achieving promotion to the top tier, 35-year-old Fuster announced his retirement.[23]

Club statistics

[24][25]

Club Season League Cup Continental[A] Total
Division AppsGoals GoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsApps
Elche 2008–09 Segunda División 3613––3613
Villarreal 2009–10 La Liga 2232040283
Olympiacos 2010–11 Super League Greece 291320–3113
2011–12 Super League Greece 20462843410
2012–13 Super League Greece 1836360306
2013–14 Super League Greece 2145180345
2014–15 Super League Greece 1326151244
2015–16 Super League Greece 1036400167
Total 11129311127516946
Getafe 2016–17 Segunda División 2211000231
Career total 19146341131525662

Notes
A. ^ Includes appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

Honours

Olympiacos[26][27]

References
  1. David Fuster anuncia su regreso al Villarreal (David Fuster announces return to Villarreal); La Verdad, 12 June 2009 (in Spanish)
  2. Returning duo seal Sevilla win; ESPN Soccernet, 8 November 2009
  3. Barcelona held at home; ESPN Soccernet, 2 January 2010
  4. Villarreal midfielder Fuster joins Olympiakos; ESPN Soccernet, 23 August 2010
  5. Teenager inspires Arsenal against Olympiacos; UEFA, 28 September 2011
  6. Olympiacos beat Arsenal but bow out; UEFA, 6 December 2011
  7. Carroll proves Olympiacos hero at Rubin; UEFA, 14 February 2012
  8. Advantage Olympiacos as Metalist run out of ideas; UEFA, 8 March 2012
  9. Last-gasp Metalist strike down Olympiacos; UEFA, 15 March 2012
  10. "David Fuster propicia el doblete para el Olympiacos de Valverde" [David Fuster hands double to Valverde's Olympiacos] (in Spanish). Marca. 28 April 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  11. Ανακοίνωση της ΠΑΕ Ολυμπιακός [Olympiacos FC announcement] (in Greek). Olympiacos F.C. 19 January 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  12. Εποχή Μίτσελ στον Ολυμπιακό [Míchel's time at Olympiacos] (in Greek). Olympiacos F.C. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  13. Πλατανιάς – Ολυμπιακός 0–4 [Platanias – Οlympiacos 0–4] (in Greek). Sport 24. 7 April 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  14. Ολυμπιακός – Πανθρακικός 2–0 [Οlympiacos – Panthrakikos 2–0] (in Greek). Sport 24. 15 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  15. "Fuster and Chori to renew with Olympiacos". SDNA. 3 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  16. "Fuster set to commit future to Olympiakos". SDNA. 16 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  17. Βαλβέρδε: "Περήφανος για Ολυμπιακό και Φουστέρ" [Valverde: "Proud of Olympiacos and Fuster"] (in Greek). Sport 24. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  18. Φουστέρ: "Στεναχωρημένος και απογοητευμένος, αλλά..." [Fuster: "Upset and disappointed, but..."] (in Greek). Sport 24. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  19. "Fuster: "When we are all united, we write history together" (pic)". SDNA. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  20. "Το "ευχαριστώ" του Φουστέρ στον κόσμο του Ολυμπιακού" [Fuster's "thank you" to the world of Olympiakos] (in Greek). Sport 24. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  21. "David Fuster se une al Getafe" [David Fuster added to Getafe] (in Spanish). Getafe CF. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  22. "El Getafe arrasa al Huesca y está en la final" [Getafe destroy Huesca and are already in the final] (in Spanish). Marca. 17 June 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  23. "David Fuster se retira tras ascender con el Getafe" [David Fuster retires after promoting with Getafe] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 25 June 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  24. "David Fuster". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  25. "David Fuster". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  26. "David Fuster – Trophies". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  27. "Olympiakos win Greek league for the fifth straight year". The Independent. 19 April 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
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