Francisco 'Fran' Manuel Vélez Jiménez (born 23 June 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central defender or a right-back.

Club career Gimnàstic Born in Tarragona, Catalonia, Vélez began playing football for Club Esportiu La Floresta.El juvenil Vélez podría jugar de titular contra el Albacete (Youth player Vélez could start against Albacete); Nàstic Grana, 10 April 2010 (in Spanish) In late 2009 he signed a contract with Gimnàstic de Tarragona, where he spent his last year as a junior.

On 10 April 2010, Vélez made his official Nàstic debut, starting against Albacete Balompié in a 1–1 away draw.El Nástic frena la racha manchega (Nástic stop manchego streak); Marca, 10 April 2010 (in Spanish) He made three more appearances during the season in Segunda División, against Real Betis,Sufrir para creer (Suffering to believe); Diario de Sevilla, 16 May 2010 (in Spanish) Cádiz CF (where he was sent off)El Cádiz se aferra a la permanencia y complica la vida al Nàstic (Cádiz cling on to survival and make things harder for Nàstic); Diario AS, 30 May 2010 (in Spanish) and UD Las Palmas.Rondón salva los muebles (Rondón saves their bacon); Marca, 19 June 2010 (in Spanish) In the following campaign, he represented CF Pobla de Mafumet, the farm team.

Vélez was loaned to UD Logroñés of Segunda División B in August 2011.Fran Vélez, cedit a la UD Logroñés (Fran Vélez, loaned to UD Logronés); Gimnàstic Tarragona, 4 August 2011 (in Catalan) He scored his only goal of the season against Real Sociedad B, contributing to a 3–1 home win.El Sanse terminó con nueve jugadores en Logroño (Sanse ended with nine players in Logroño); El Diario Vasco, 22 March 2012 (in Spanish)

On 14 July 2012, Vélez returned to Nàstic and its main squad.Fran Vélez torna al Nàstic (Fran Vélez returns to Nàstic); Gimnàstic Tarragona, 14 July 2012 (in Catalan) On 26 August he played his first game in his second stint, against Valencia CF Mestalla.Debut con empate (Debut with draw); Blog del Nàstic, 26 August 2012 (in Spanish) He netted his first goal with the club on 7 October, opening the 2–0 home victory over CD Binissalem.3 puntos y algo más. (3 points and something more.); Blog del Nàstic, 7 October 2012 (in Spanish)

Almería On 2 September 2013, Vélez signed with UD Almería, initially being assigned to the reserves also in the third division.Fran Vélez marxa traspassat a la UD Almería (Fran Vélez transferred to UD Almería); Gimnàstic Tarragona, 2 September 2013 (in Catalan) He made his first-team debut on 14 January of the following year, starting as a right-back in a 2–0 home loss to Racing de Santander in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey (3–1 loss on aggregate).Un monumento al Racing (A monument to Racing); Marca, 14 January 2014 (in Spanish)

Vélez's maiden appearance in La Liga took place on 27 April 2014: he started and scored in a 2–1 win at RCD Espanyol, where he featured as a defensive midfielder before being replaced by Jonathan Zongo in the 71st minute.Suso se inventa una nueva esperanza (Suso invents new hope); Marca, 27 April 2014 (in Spanish) He played a further three matches with the main squad, only contributing four minutes in the last fixture, a 0–0 home draw against Athletic Bilbao.Más que suficiente (More than enough); Marca, 18 May 2014 (in Spanish)

On 7 June 2014, Vélez was definitely promoted to the first team.Fran Vélez pasa a tener contrato profesional y sube al primer equipo (Fran Vélez now has a professional contract and is promoted to the first team) ; UD Almería, 7 June 2014 (in Spanish) On 31 March 2015, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering a shoulder injury;Fran Vélez dice adiós a la temporada (Fran Vélez says goodbye to the season) ; UD Almería, 31 March 2015 (in Spanish) the season also ended in relegation.

Vélez was regularly used during the following second-tier campaigns, and cut ties with the club on 28 June 2017.La UD Almería y Fran Vélez llegan a un acuerdo para rescindir el contrato (UD Almería and Fran Vélez reach an agreement to terminate the contract); UD Almería, 28 June 2017 (in Spanish)

Wisła Kraków On 1 July 2017, Vélez signed with Polish club Wisła Kraków. He scored his only goal in the Ekstraklasa on 18 March 2018, helping to a 2–0 away victory over Legia Warsaw.

Aris On 25 July 2018, after the player successfully passed his medicals, Aris Thessaloniki F.C. announced the signing of Vélez on a two-year contract. He scored his first goal for the team the following 24 February, heading home in a 1–1 draw at Super League Greece leaders PAOK FC.

Later career Vélez agreed to join Panathinaikos F.C. on 20 February 2020, with the three-year deal being made effective on 1 July. In September 2023, after one season in the Saudi Pro League with Al Fateh SC, the 32-year-old returned to Aris on a two-year contract.

Personal life Vélez's older brother, José Antonio, was also a footballer. Both played for Gimnàstic and Pobla.Fran Vélez pide irse (Fran Vélez asks to leave); Diari de Tarragona, 22 June 2013 (in Spanish)

Career statistics

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGimnàstic2009–10Segunda División4000—402012–13Segunda División B34410—354Total38410—394Pobla Mafumet2010–11Tercera División293——293Logroñés2011–12Segunda División B28130—311Almería B2013–14Segunda División B262——262Almería2013–14La Liga4110—512014–15La Liga17000—1702015–16Segunda División30020—3202016–17Segunda División24100—241Total75230—782Wisła Kraków2017–18Ekstraklasa17100—171Aris2018–19Super League Greece23120—2512019–20Super League Greece2445030324Total4757030575Panathinaikos2020–21Super League Greece25200—2522021–22Super League Greece29060—350Total54260—602Al-Fateh2022–23Saudi Pro League21020—230Aris2023–24Super League Greece1003100131Career total345202513037321

Honours Panathinaikos Greek Cup: 2021–22

References

External links