Joseba Llorente

Joseba Llorente Etxarri (born 24 November 1979 in Hondarribia, Basque Country (autonomous community)) is a Spain Association football who currently plays for Villarreal CF in the La Liga, as a Striker Centre forward.

Club career

Llorente came through the ranks of Real Sociedad, making Joseba Llorente debut for the first team on October 3, 1999, at Real Zaragoza (0-2 loss). Joseba Llorente would however, only amass 23 appearances in four seasons and left, in 2003, for another Basque Country (autonomous community) side, SD Eibar, in the Segunda División, where Joseba Llorente already had served a six-month loan stint in 2000-01.

In Segunda División 2005-06, Llorente joined Real Valladolid, also in that category, and netted 12 league goals in Joseba Llorente debut campaign, adding 17 to help the side Segunda División 2006-07.

On January 20, 2008, in a league match against RCD Espanyol, Llorente broke the Spanish league record for the fastest goal ever scored (7.82 seconds),beating Uruguay Dario Silva's previous record at 8. Joseba Llorente broke through La Liga 2007-08, aged almost 29, scoring 16 league goals to help the team retain top-flight status (namely a hat-trick against Recreativo de Huelva, on the 13th).

On May 26, 2008, Llorente agreed a four-year deal with Villarreal CF,leaving Valladolid for an undisclosed fee. Joseba Llorente scored Joseba Llorente first goal for the club in a 2-1 win at CD Numancia, on September 21. On October 21, Joseba Llorente scored a hat-trick against AaB Football, in a UEFA Champions League 2008-09 6-3 home win.

On March 10, 2009, after just minutes on the pitch, Llorente scored the winner against Panathinaikos FC, in an eventual 2-1 away win in the Champions League quarterfinals' second leg (3-2 aggregate). La Liga 2008-09 at Villarreal was highly productive, as Joseba Llorente netted 15 league goals (squad's best), including two at FC Barcelona for a 3-3 draw, on May 10, postponing the Catalonians' title-winning celebrations for a further week.

Club statistics

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