Carles Aleñá Castillo (born 5 January 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Alavés.
Club career Barcelona Born in Mataró, Barcelona, Catalonia, Aleñá moved to Barcelona's youth system, La Masia, in 2005 at the age of 7, after a successful trial.Carles Aleñá, uno de los elegidos (Carles Aleñá, one of the chosen); Mundo Deportivo, 14 September 2015 Carles Aleñá, una excepción (Carles Aleñá, an exception); Mundo Deportivo, 5 April 2017 Highly rated by the club,Aleñá, el Maradona de la cantera (Aleñá, the Maradona of the youth system); Mundo Deportivo, 27 September 2012 Así es Carles Aleñá, la nueva perla de la cantera azulgrana (So is Carles Aleñá, the new pearl of Barcelona's youth system); Marca, 19 February 2016 he made his debut with the reserves on 29 August 2015, coming on as a late substitute for David Babunski in a 0–0 Segunda División B home draw against Pobla de Mafumet.Un penalti fallado en el 90' impide el primer triunfo del Barça B (A missed penalty in the 90th minute prevents the first triumph of Barça B); Sport, 29 August 2015
On 24 November 2015, Aleñá scored a spectacular goal in a UEFA Youth League game against Roma.Watch Carles Aleñá's stunning goal for Barcelona; UEFA, 24 November 2015 He scored his first senior goal on 19 December, in a Barcelona B 2–4 away loss to Eldense.
Aleñá was first included in Barcelona's main squad on 10 February 2016,FC Barcelona announce squad for Mestalla; FC Barcelona, 10 February 2016 remaining an unused substitute in their 1–1 away draw against Valencia in the second leg of 2015-16 Copa del Rey semi-finals.Barça salvage 1–1 King's Cup draw against improved Valencia; Reuters, 10 February 2016 He made his first team debut on 30 November of that year, starting and scoring the equalizer in an away draw against Hércules for the same scoreline, in the same competition.Otro petardazo del Barça (Another firecracker from Barça); Marca, 30 November 2016
Aleñá made his La Liga debut on 2 April 2017, coming on as a second-half substitute for Ivan Rakitić in a 4–1 away routing of Granada.Carles Aleñá: un debut de cinco minutos (Carles Aleñá: a five-minute debut); Sport, 2 April 2017 On 28 June, he signed a three-year professional deal with Barcelona, including a release clause of €75 million.Carles Aleñá agrees to new FC Barcelona contract; FC Barcelona, 28 June 2017 In July 2018, he was nominated for the Golden Boy award. On 4 December 2018, Aleñá was officially promoted to the first team, two days after scoring his first league goal for Barcelona against Villarreal.
Loan to Betis On 28 December 2019, Barcelona announced that they had reached an agreement with Real Betis for the loan transfer of Aleñá until the end of the season. He played 19 games for the team from Seville, and scored in a 3–0 home win over Osasuna on 8 July.
Loan and permanent transfer to Getafe On 6 January 2021, it was announced that Barcelona reached an agreement with Getafe over a loan move for Aleñá until the end of the season. On 27 February, he scored his first goal for Getafe after coming off the bench in the final minutes of his team's 3–0 win against Valencia.
On 10 July 2021, Getafe reached an agreement with Barcelona to permanently sign Aleñá for five seasons. Barça also reserved the right to 50% of any future sale of the player, a buy back option plus first right of refusal on any offer.
Loan and permanent transfer to Alavés On 3 February 2025, Aleñá moved on loan to Alavés until the end of the 2024–25 La Liga season. On 24 July, he signed a permanent four-year contract with the club.
Personal life Aleñá's father Francesc was also a footballer; a forward, he played for several clubs in the 1980s and 1990s.Carles Aleñá: "No me llamo Carles, me llamo Pivaldo" (Carles Aleñá: "My name is not Carles, call me Pivaldo"); Sport, 14 September 2015 Aleñá (Francisco Aleñá Jiménez), BDFutbol
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCopa del ReyContinentalOther TotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBarcelona B2015–16Segunda División B141———1412016–17233——602932017–18Segunda División3811———38112018–19Segunda División B83———83Total83180000608918Barcelona2016–17La Liga30110000412017–1800300000302018–191727030002722019–2040001000502020–212000300050Total2621117000443Real Betis (loan)2019–20La Liga17120——191Getafe (loan)2020–21La Liga22200——222Getafe2021–22La Liga33100——3312022–2335230——3822023–2429130——3212024–2510010——110Total12967000001366Alavés (loan)2024–25La Liga14000——140Alavés2025–26La Liga25040——290Total390400000430Career total29427241706033128
Honours Barcelona La Liga: 2018–19 Copa del Rey: 2016–17, 2017–18
Individual 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament
References
External links
Profile at the Getafe CF website