Players - Iago Aspas

Iago Aspas
Birthdate: 1 August 1987
Birthplace: Moana, Spain
Other clubs: Celta Vigo (1995-2013), Rapido Bouzas (loan, 2004-05), Sevilla (loan 2014, transfer 2015), Celta Vigo (2015-)
Signed from: Celta Vigo
Signed for LFC: £7m, 23.06.2013
International debut: 15.11.2016 vs. England
International caps: 18/6 (07.06.2019)
Liverpool debut: 17.08.2013
Last appearance: 27.04.2014
Debut goal: 05.01.2014
Last goal: 05.01.2014
Contract expiry: 12.06.2015
Win ratio: 66.67% W:10 D:1 L:4
Games/assists ratio: 15
League games / goals / assists: 14 / 0 / 1
Total games / goals / assists: 15 / 1 / 1

Player Profile

Knowing that he would be without the services of Luis Suarez for the opening weeks of the 2013/14 season, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers acted swiftly to ensure that he would have other options to Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini. Aspas was born in Galicia and played for a local club there in the town of his birth, Moaña, before moving on to Celta Vigo, another Galician club. Although he had a good reputation as a youth player, he had to be patient and work his way through different age-groups in Vigo before making his debut for Celta B in the 2006-07 season, that team playing then in the Segunda División B, the third level of the Spanish league system.

After two full seasons with Celta B, promotion into the club’s senior team was an inevitable process for the young forward but the main focus for this group of players was getting back into the Spanish First Division. This eventually happened in 2011/12 when Celta were promoted back into the top division five years after leaving it, finishing runners-up to local rivals Deportivo La Coruña. Aspas contributed twenty-three of his team’s eighty-three goals during this promotion season. Playing in La Liga for the first time was not a step too far for Aspas and despite Celta being in a relegation battle for much of the season, he was still a regular scorer, twelve from thirty-three matches as the final weekend of the season loomed, the date on which Celta Vigo’s fate would be decided.

Unfortunately, like the man he has possibly been bought to temporarily replace, Aspas arrives in England with a somewhat suspect temperament. During the crucial Galician derby with Deportivo in March 2013, he was sent off after violently head-butting La Coruña defender Carlos Marchena, an offence for which he received a four-match ban. 

A promising pre-season for Liverpool was never followed up once the competitive matches began. Aspas started four of the first five Premier League fixtures but then did not start another match until New Year's Day. If he was bought to score goals then it didn't seem to be money wisely spent. The Spaniard only scored once (against Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup) but rarely looked like doing so in the fourteen other first-team matches he appeared in. Brendan Rodgers put him on the bench for the last seven league matches of the season but he only came on once (when the title was effectively lost against Chelsea) and did nothing much apart from a much-maligned corner at the end of the match that irated the Anfield crowd.

After an extremely difficult first season in England, Aspas returned to the country of his birth in July 2014 on loan to Sevilla for a year. Aspas appeared in sixteen La Liga matches for Sevilla in 2014/15, scoring twice. He also scored seven times in his five appearances in the Copa del Rey; this included hat-tricks in both legs of the fourth round tie against Sabadell. He made three appearances and scored one goal in the Europa League. Sevilla finished the Spanish season in 5th place with 76 points from 38 matches and also won the Europa League. Sevilla used their option to buy Aspas on 12 June 2015 before selling him off to former club Celta Vigo six days later where he signed a five-year contract. A club statement confirmed Aspas' signing as: 'One of the most exciting arrivals of recent seasons.'

Aspas helped Celta to the Europa League semi-final and was rewarded with his excellent form for Celta by making his international debut and scoring in a 2-2 friendly draw against England on 15 November 2016. In 2016/17 he scored a personal best of nineteen league goals, then bettered this with 22 in 2017/18. That made him the highest-scoring Spaniard in La Liga, with only Lionel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez ahead of him. Aspas had another prolific season in 2018/19, scoring 20 league goals in 27 matches for Celta Vigo. It was more of the same in 2019/20 as he started all bar one of the 38 La Liga games, scoring fourteen goals. In 2021/22 Aspas became Celta's all time leading scorer in an impressive season that saw him net eighteen times, including a 96th minute equaliser as they came from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Barcelona.
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 14 1 0 0 0 15
2013-2014 14 1 0 0 0 15
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
2 60 Manchester United
2 51 Southampton
2 16 Chelsea
1 90 Oldham Athletic
1 72 Stoke City
1 69 Aston Villa
1 62 Hull City
1 35 Swansea City
1 8 Manchester City
1 4 Arsenal
1 2 Crystal Palace
1 0 Norwich City
Total Started/substitutions
6 Started
23 On the bench
9 Substitute
5 Substituted
Total Venue
9 Home
6 Away
Total Competition
14 Premier League
1 FA Cup
Total W D L Win % Manager
15 10 1 4 66.7% Brendan Rodgers
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 0 1 0 0 0 1
2013-2014 0 1 0 0 0 1
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Opponent
1 Oldham Athletic
Total Started/substitutions
1 Started
0 Substitute
Total Competition
1 FA Cup
Total Goal minute period
1 46-60 minutes
Total Goal origin
1 Open play
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 1 0 0 0 0 1
2013-2014 1 0 0 0 0 1
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Total Opponent
1 Stoke City
Total Competition
1 Premier League
Total For player
1 Daniel Sturridge
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 17.08.2013 Stoke City Anfield League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 54 05.01.2014 Oldham Athletic Anfield FA Cup
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Celta Vigo B 2006-2007 Spain 3 21 1 21 1
Celta Vigo B 2007-2008 Spain 3 32 4 32 4
Celta Vigo 2007-2008 Spain 2 1 0 1 0
Celta Vigo B 2008-2009 Spain 3 31 6 31 6
Celta Vigo 2008-2009 Spain 2 3 2 3 2
Celta Vigo 2009-2010 Spain 2 36 5 43 6
Celta Vigo 2010-2011 Spain 2 28 4 29 5
Celta Vigo 2011-2012 Spain 2 35 23 38 25
Celta Vigo 2012-2013 Spain 1 34 12 37 12
Sevilla 2014-2015 Spain 1 10 2 19 10
Celta Vigo 2015-2016 Spain 1 34 14 43 14
Celta Vigo 2016-2017 Spain 1 32 19 49 26
Celta Vigo 2017-2018 Spain 1 34 22 37 23
Celta Vigo 2018-2019 Spain 1 27 20 29 21
Celta Vigo 2019-2020 Spain 1 37 14 38 14
Celta Vigo 2020-2021 Spain 1 33 14 34 14
Celta Vigo 2021-2022 Spain 1 37 18 38 18
Celta Vigo 2022-2023 Spain 1 37 12 39 12
Total 502 192 561 213