Pedro Chirivella

Pedro Chirivella
Chirivella with Nantes in 2020
Personal information
Full name Pedro Chirivella Burgos[1]
Date of birth (1997-05-23) 23 May 1997 (age 27)[2]
Place of birth Valencia, Spain
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
Nantes
Number 5
Youth career
2004–2013 Valencia
2013–2016 Liverpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2020 Liverpool 1 (0)
2017Go Ahead Eagles (loan) 17 (2)
2017–2018Willem II (loan) 31 (0)
2019Extremadura (loan) 1 (0)
2020– Nantes 120 (4)
International career
2012–2014 Spain U17 15 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 May 2024

Pedro Chirivella Burgos (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo tʃiɾiˈβeʎa]; born 23 May 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Ligue 1 club Nantes, whom he also captains.

He began his professional career at Liverpool, playing 11 games, of which one in the Premier League. He was loaned to Go Ahead Eagles and Willem II in the Dutch Eredivisie before moving to Nantes at the end of his contract in 2020. With them, he won the Coupe de France in 2022.

Club career

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Liverpool

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Born in Valencia, Chirivella developed his trade at the academy of local club Valencia CF where he captained the club at various youth levels.[4] He was scouted by a number of European clubs but it was Liverpool who signed him in 2013 along with fellow Spaniard Sergi Canós from Barcelona.[5] In order to aid Chirivella's transition to England, Liverpool moved his family north from Spain and provided them with work and accommodation.[6] He joined up with Liverpool's academy and on 7 July 2014 was one of seven youngsters to be handed a professional contract by the club.[7]

2015–16 season

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Chirivella received his first taste of senior football when he was included in club manager Brendan Rodgers' squad for Liverpool's pre-season tour of Asia and Australia.[8] During the tour he made his non-competitive debut for Liverpool, coming on as a second-half substitute against HJK Helsinki.[6] He received his first competitive call up later in the season for a UEFA Europa League group stage match against Bordeaux on 17 September 2015. In the 28th minute, following an injury to centre-back Kolo Touré, Chirivella was brought on to make his debut and played out the remainder of a 1–1 draw at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux.[9][10] His next appearance for the club saw him make his FA Cup debut under new manager Jürgen Klopp on 8 January 2016 when he came on as a substitute in a third round match against Exeter City.[11] Liverpool ultimately progressed in the Cup which afforded him the opportunity to make his first start for the club on 9 February in a 2–1 defeat against West Ham United in the fourth round replay.[12] He then signed a new contract with Liverpool on 9 March before making his Premier League debut towards the back end of the season, starting in a 3–1 loss against Swansea City on 1 May.[13]

2016–19: Loans

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On 6 January 2017, Liverpool announced that Chirivella, who had spent the first half of the season playing for the club's U23 side, would spend the remainder of the season on loan at Eredivisie club, Go Ahead Eagles in order to gain more first team experience.[14] He made his debut for the club a week later, playing the full match in a 3–1 defeat to AZ Alkmaar.[15] The following week, he scored his first professional goal, heading in the opener from Jarchinio Antonia's cross in a 1–1 draw with Excelsior.[16] He ultimately made 17 appearances for the campaign and scored twice but could not help prevent the club avoid relegation at the end of the season.[17]

Chirivella returned to Netherlands on 26 July 2017, after being loaned to Willem II for the season.[18] He made his debut for the club on 13 August, starting in a 2–1 defeat to Excelsior.[19]

On 31 January 2019, he signed for Spanish club Extremadura UD on loan.[20] On 13 February, however, the club announced he could not play for the first team during the remainder of the season, as his transfer documentations arrived after the time limit.[21]

2019–20 season

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On 3 September 2019, Chirivella was named in Liverpool's 25-man Premier League squad for the 2019–20 season.[22] On 25 September – 3 years and 4 months after his last appearance for Liverpool – he came off the bench in an EFL Cup game against Milton Keynes Dons, replacing Naby Keïta after 63 minutes as his club won 2–0. However, it later emerged that Chirivella was in fact ineligible to feature in the tie, as he did not have international clearance. Liverpool were subsequently fined £200,000 by the FA, half of which was suspended.[23]

Nantes

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On 12 June 2020, Liverpool announced that Chirivella would join French side Nantes when his contract expired at the end of the season.[24] He signed a three-year deal at the Ligue 1 club.[25] He made his debut on 21 August as the season began with a goalless draw at Bordeaux.[26]

Chirivella scored his first goal for Nantes on 22 September 2021, in a 3–1 home win over neighbours Brest; he was named the best player of the match by sports daily L'Équipe.[27] The following 28 April, he extended his contract to 2026,[28] and days later he played as the Canaris defeated Nice 1–0 in the 2022 Coupe de France Final.[29]

In August 2023, manager Pierre Aristouy made Chirivella the club's captain, saying that the player shared his views on how best to play.[30]

International career

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Chirivella represented Spain at under-17 level and scored twice for them in 15 appearances.[31]

Career statistics

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As of match played 8 May 2024[32]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Go Ahead Eagles (loan) 2016–17 Eredivisie 17 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 2
Willem II (loan) 2017–18 Eredivisie 31 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 35 0
Liverpool 2015–16[33] Premier League 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 5 0
2019–20[34] Premier League 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 6 0
Total 1 0 6 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 11 0
Nantes 2020–21[35] Ligue 1 32 0 1 0 0 0 2[a] 0 35 0
2021–22[32] Ligue 1 31 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 36 3
2022–23[32] Ligue 1 26 0 1 0 0 0 8 0 1[b] 0 36 0
2023–24 Ligue 1 31 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 33 1
Total 120 4 9 0 0 0 8 0 3 0 140 4
Career total 169 6 19 0 3 0 9 0 3 0 203 6

Honours

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Nantes

References

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  1. ^ "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Pedro Chirivella: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Pedro Chirivella". FC Nantes. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Who is Pedro Chirivella?". The Liverpool FC Academy Football Blog. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  5. ^ Lusby, Jack (16 August 2016). "Sergi Canos: Liverpool's former Barcelona academy forward in profile". This is Anfield. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  6. ^ a b Lusby, Jack (14 August 2015). "Pedro Chirivella: The lowdown on Liverpool's Spanish academy star". This is Anfield. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Seven young Reds sign pro contracts". Liverpool F.C. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  8. ^ Killen, Stephen (13 July 2015). "Youngsters on Pre-season Tour". Read Liverpool. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  9. ^ Nakrani, Sachin (14 September 2015). "Liverpool denied by Bordeaux's Ferreira Jussiê in Europa League draw". Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  10. ^ Chowdhury, Saj. "Bordeaux 1–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  11. ^ Rose, Gary (8 January 2016). "Exeter City – Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  12. ^ Jurejko, Jonathan (9 February 2016). "West Ham United – Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  13. ^ Shaw, Chris (9 March 2016). "Pedro Chirivella signs new Liverpool contract". Liverpool Football Club. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  14. ^ Lynch, David (6 January 2017). "Pedro Chirivella joins Go Ahead Eagles on loan". Liverpool Football Club. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  15. ^ "Chirivella en Manu in basis Go Ahead tegen AZ". Eredivisie (in Dutch). 12 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  16. ^ Twelves, Ben (23 January 2017). "Kent & Chirivella score, Ward & Fulton keep clean sheets – Liverpool FC Loan Watch". This is Anfield. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  17. ^ Byrne, Harvey (15 May 2017). "I'll Never Forget the Support – Liverpool Midfielder Sends Farewell to Fans on Twitter". Football Insider. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  18. ^ "Chirivella joins Willem II on season-long loan". Liverpool FC.
  19. ^ Whitlock, Dominic (14 August 2017). "The Loan Report: Awoniyi makes big impression on debut". Friends of Liverpool. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  20. ^ "Pedro Chirivella joins Extremadura UD on loan". Liverpool FC.
  21. ^ "Chirivella no podrá jugar en el Extremadura" [Chirivella will not be able to play at Extremadura] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  22. ^ Kay, Dan (3 September 2019). "Reds 25-man Premier League squad confirmed". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  23. ^ "MK Dons 0–2 Liverpool". Sky Sports. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  24. ^ "Pedro Chirivella to leave Liverpool for Nantes". Sky Sports. 13 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  25. ^ "Football. En fin de contrat à Liverpool, Chirivella arrive à Nantes" [Football. Out of contract at Liverpool, Chirivella arrives at Nantes]. Le Télégramme (in French). 12 June 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  26. ^ "Ligue 1. Triste match nul entre Bordeaux et Nantes pour la reprise de la saison" [Ligue 1. Sad draw between Bordeaux and Nantes for the return of the season]. Ouest-France (in French). 21 August 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  27. ^ Dupont, Regis (22 September 2021). "Les tops-flops de Nantes-Brest : Chirivella, le boss des Canaris" [Tops and flops of Nantes-Brest: Chirivella, the boss of the Canaries]. L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  28. ^ "Pedro Chirivella prolonge au FC Nantes jusqu'en 2026" [Pedro Chirivella extends at FC Nantes until 2026] (in French). France Bleu. 28 April 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  29. ^ a b Holyman, I. (7 May 2022). "Nantes beat Nice to win Coupe de France". Ligue 1. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  30. ^ Boudard, Jean-Marcel (12 August 2023). "FC Nantes. Pedro Chirivella est le nouveau capitaine : les raisons d'un choix" [FC Nantes. Pedro Chirivella is the new captain: the reasons for the choice]. Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  31. ^ "Liverpool sell one of Brendan Rodgers' brightest midfield prospects". SportsJOE.ie. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  32. ^ a b c Pedro Chirivella at Soccerway. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  33. ^ "Games played by Pedro Chirivella in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  34. ^ "Games played by Pedro Chirivella in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  35. ^ Pedro Chirivella at Soccerway. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
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