1. Early life
Adalberto Peñaranda's early life was marked by his origins and initial steps in football within Venezuela.
1.1. Birth and background
Peñaranda was born on 31 May 1997, in El Vigía, a city located in the Alberto Adriani Municipality of Mérida State, Venezuela. His formative years were spent in this region, where he began his football development.
2. Club career
Peñaranda's club career has seen him play for several teams across Venezuela and Europe, often involving a complex series of transfers and loan spells, particularly within clubs linked to the Pozzo family.
2.1. Deportivo La Guaira
Peñaranda is an academy graduate of Deportivo La Guaira, a Venezuelan professional football club. He made his professional and Primera División debut at the age of 16 on 11 August 2013, starting in a 1-3 home loss against Deportivo Táchira. His first senior goal came on 23 February 2014, when he scored his team's only goal in a 1-4 away loss against Caracas FC. During the 2013-14 Venezuelan Primera División season, he made 18 appearances and scored one goal. He continued to play for Deportivo La Guaira through the 2014-15 Venezuelan Primera División season, making a total of 44 appearances and scoring 4 goals by the end of the 2014-15 season. His time with the club was also marked by a significant team achievement, as he helped Deportivo La Guaira win the Copa Venezuela in 2014.
2.2. The Pozzo Group Era
Peñaranda's career in Europe was largely influenced by the Pozzo family, who owned multiple football clubs, facilitating his transfers and loan movements between them.
2.2.1. Udinese Calcio
On 16 June 2015, Peñaranda signed with Serie A club Udinese, which was owned by Italian businessman Giampaolo Pozzo. Despite signing with Udinese, he did not make any senior appearances for the club in his initial period there, as he was immediately loaned out to another Pozzo-owned club. He eventually made his debut for Udinese on 13 August 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute in a Coppa Italia match where Udinese lost 3-2 to Spezia. His Serie A debut followed a week later, on 21 August 2016, in a 4-0 defeat against Roma, where he again appeared as a second-half substitute.
2.2.2. Granada CF
Immediately after signing with Udinese in June 2015, Peñaranda was loaned to Granada, a La Liga club also under the ownership of the Pozzo family at the time. He initially played for Granada B in Segunda División B, where he scored three goals in nine appearances. Peñaranda made his debut for Granada's senior team on 22 November 2015, starting in a 2-0 home victory against Athletic Bilbao. This appearance made him the youngest player ever to represent Granada CF. On 12 December 2015, he scored his first goals in La Liga, netting a brace in a 2-1 away win against Levante UD. In doing so, he became the youngest non-Spanish player to score a brace in La Liga history, surpassing a record previously held by Barcelona's Argentine forward, Lionel Messi. He made 23 appearances and scored 5 goals for Granada in La Liga during his loan spell.
2.2.3. Watford FC
On 1 February 2016, Peñaranda signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Premier League side Watford, which was owned by Gino Pozzo, Giampaolo Pozzo's son. Despite the transfer, he remained on loan at Granada for the rest of the 2015-16 La Liga season. After the season, Granada was sold to Chinese firm Link International Sports, which ended the possibility of Peñaranda returning to the club on another loan. Upon his arrival at Watford in July 2016, Peñaranda was immediately sent back to Udinese on a season-long loan, as Watford awaited his qualification for a work permit to play in England. He eventually made his first-team debut for Watford on 6 January 2019, in an FA Cup third-round match against Woking. His first goal for Watford came on 27 August 2019, in an EFL Cup tie against Coventry City.
2.3. Loan spells
While under contract with Watford, Peñaranda was sent on multiple loan spells to various clubs across different European leagues.
2.3.1. Málaga CF
On 5 January 2017, Peñaranda was recalled from his loan at Udinese and subsequently loaned to La Liga club Málaga for the remainder of the season. The agreement included an option for Málaga to extend the loan for an additional season. He made 16 appearances for Málaga across two seasons, but did not score any goals.
2.3.2. KAS Eupen
On 2 September 2019, Peñaranda joined Belgian First Division A club Eupen on a one-year loan deal. He made 5 appearances during his time there.
2.3.3. CSKA Sofia
On 5 October 2020, Peñaranda moved to Bulgarian First League club CSKA Sofia on a one-year loan. During his spell, he made 5 league appearances and contributed to the team's success by winning the 2020-21 Bulgarian Cup.
2.3.4. UD Las Palmas
On 12 July 2021, Peñaranda returned to Spain, signing a one-year loan deal with Segunda División club Las Palmas. He played 18 matches and scored 2 goals for the club in the second division.
2.4. Boavista FC
On 1 September 2022, Peñaranda joined Primeira Liga side Boavista on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract. However, after a year, Peñaranda left Boavista without playing a single game due to a club sanction that prevented him from being officially registered to the squad.
2.5. FK Sarajevo and Atlético Bucaramanga
Following his departure from Boavista, Peñaranda joined Bosnian Premier League club Sarajevo. He made 16 league appearances and scored 1 goal for Sarajevo during the 2023-24 FK Sarajevo season. As of 2024, he is currently playing for Categoría Primera A club Atlético Bucaramanga on loan from Sarajevo.
3. International career
Peñaranda has represented Venezuela at various youth levels before making his debut for the senior national team.
3.1. Venezuela youth teams
Peñaranda was a key player for Venezuela's youth national teams. He was part of the Venezuela U-17 team that finished as runner-up in the 2013 South American Under-17 Football Championship, making 2 appearances in the tournament. He later played for the Venezuela U-20 team, participating in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In this tournament, he made 7 appearances and scored 1 goal, contributing significantly to Venezuela's historic achievement of reaching the final and finishing as runner-up in a FIFA-sanctioned competition for the first time in their football history.
3.2. Venezuela senior team
Peñaranda received his first call-up to the Venezuela senior national team in 2016 at the age of 18. He made his international A-match debut on 24 March 2016, in a 2018 FIFA World Cup South American Qualifiers match against Peru. Between 2016 and 2022, he earned 20 caps for the national team, though he has yet to score his debut goal for the senior squad.
4. Personal life
Peñaranda experienced a significant personal event early in his career.
4.1. Shooting incident
On 18 April 2015, Peñaranda and his Deportivo La Guaira teammate, Charlis Ortiz, were both shot during an attempted robbery. The incident occurred after they had attended a party. Peñaranda sustained a gunshot wound to his left thigh, with the bullet passing clean through. Ortiz, however, was struck in the rib area and required surgery the following day.
5. Career statistics
5.1. Club statistics
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Deportivo La Guaira | 2013-14 | Venezuelan Primera División | 18 | 1 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 22 | 1 | ||
| 2014-15 | Venezuelan Primera División | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | 22 | 3 | ||
| Total | 37 | 4 | 5 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | 44 | 4 | |||
| Udinese | 2015-16 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | ||
| Granada B (loan) | 2015-16 | Segunda División B | 9 | 3 | - | - | - | 9 | 3 | |||
| Granada (loan) | 2015-16 | La Liga | 23 | 5 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 27 | 5 | ||
| Watford | 2016-17 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017-18 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2018-19 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2019-20 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2020-21 | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2021-22 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | - | 4 | 2 | |||
| Udinese (loan) | 2016-17 | Serie A | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 7 | 0 | ||
| Málaga (loan) | 2016-17 | La Liga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2017-18 | La Liga | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 13 | 0 | |||
| Total | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 16 | 0 | ||||
| Eupen (loan) | 2019-20 | Belgian First Division A | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 6 | 0 | ||
| CSKA Sofia (loan) | 2020-21 | First League | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Las Palmas (loan) | 2021-22 | Segunda División | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 19 | 2 | ||
| Boavista | 2022-23 | Primeira Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | |
| Sarajevo | 2023-24 | Bosnian Premier League | 16 | 0 | 4 | 1 | - | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | |
| Atlético Bucaramanga (loan) | 2024 | Categoría Primera A | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2025 | Categoría Primera A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 14 | 0 | ||||
| Career totals | 145 | 14 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 175 | 17 | ||
5.2. International statistics
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venezuela | 2016 | 11 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | 0 | |
6. Honours
Peñaranda has achieved several team honours throughout his club and international youth career.
6.1. Club honours
- Copa Venezuela: 2014 (with Deportivo La Guaira)
- Bulgarian Cup: 2020-21 (with CSKA Sofia)
6.2. National team honours
- South American Under-17 Football Championship runner-up: 2013 (with Venezuela U-17)
- FIFA U-20 World Cup runner-up: 2017 (with Venezuela U-20)