Aleix Vidal | Today's AI Wiki

1. Early Life and Career

Aleix Vidal Parreu was born in Valls, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, on August 21, 1989. He was raised in the neighboring town of Puigpelat. Vidal began his footballing journey as a forward in various youth academies. His early development included stints at clubs such as UE Valls, FC Barcelona, FC Cambrils, Gimnàstic, Real Madrid, Reus, and RCD Espanyol. During his youth career, he also spent a period on loan at CF Damm.

1.1. Birth and Youth Career

1.2. Early Senior Career

Vidal made his senior debut with CF Reus Deportiu before signing with RCD Espanyol in 2007 to further his development. However, he never made a first-team appearance for Espanyol, spending his only senior season with the club on loan to Panthrakikos F.C. in Greece.

On August 31, 2009, Vidal moved to Segunda División side Gimnàstic de Tarragona. He spent the majority of the 2009-10 season playing for Gimnàstic's farm team, CF Pobla de Mafumet, in the Tercera División. In mid-2010, he joined RCD Mallorca, where he was assigned to their reserve team, RCD Mallorca B, which competed in the Segunda División B.

2. Club Career

Vidal's club career spanned several prominent Spanish teams, where he evolved his playing style and contributed to significant successes.

2.1. UD Almería

In mid-June 2011, after Mallorca B suffered relegation from the Segunda División B, Vidal joined another reserve team in the same tier, UD Almería B. He made his debut for the Andalusians' main squad on August 27, 2011, in a match against Córdoba CF. Shortly after, he was promoted to the first team and was given the No. 8 jersey, following the departure of Albert Crusat to Wigan Athletic.

In his second season with Almería, Vidal scored four goals in 37 games, which included 30 starts and nearly 2,600 minutes of action. His contributions were crucial in helping the team return to La Liga after a two-year absence. On August 6, 2013, he extended his contract with Almería until 2017. He made his top-flight debut on August 19, starting in a 2-3 home loss to Villarreal CF. Approximately a month later, on September 14, he scored his first La Liga goal in a 4-2 defeat against Atlético Madrid.

2.2. Sevilla FC

On June 16, 2014, Vidal signed a four-year contract with Sevilla FC for a transfer fee of 3.00 M EUR. He made his competitive debut on August 12 in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup at the Cardiff City Stadium, playing 66 minutes before being substituted in a 2-0 loss to Real Madrid. He scored on his league debut 11 days later, opening the scoring in a 1-1 home draw against Valencia CF.

On May 7, 2015, during the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League, Vidal displayed a standout performance against ACF Fiorentina. He started the game as a right-back, a position he was frequently deployed in by manager Unai Emery during the season, until Coke entered the field in the 58th minute. Vidal scored two goals and provided an assist to Kevin Gameiro, contributing to a 3-0 home victory. Twenty days later, he started in the final in Warsaw, where Sevilla defeated FC Dnipro 3-2, securing his first major title.

2.3. FC Barcelona

On June 7, 2015, Aleix Vidal signed a five-year contract with FC Barcelona for a fee of 18.00 M EUR plus 4.00 M EUR in add-ons. He underwent his medical examination and was officially presented the following day. However, due to a FIFA embargo placed on the club for infractions related to signing underage foreign players, Vidal was not permitted to appear in competitive games until January 2016.

Vidal made his official debut for Blaugrana on January 6, 2016, replacing Dani Alves midway through the second half of a 4-1 home victory against his former club RCD Espanyol in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey. Subsequently, he experienced a period of being completely ostracized by manager Luis Enrique. On January 14, 2017, taking advantage of the absence of regular starting right-back Sergi Roberto, Vidal scored his first league goal for Barcelona, contributing to a dominant 5-0 win over UD Las Palmas at the Camp Nou. On February 11, in the final minutes of a 6-0 away victory against Deportivo Alavés, he suffered a dislocated ankle following a challenge by Théo Hernandez. This injury ruled him out for the remainder of the season, although he remarkably returned to full training by May 24, three and a half months earlier than initial prognoses, and made a substitute appearance in the Copa del Rey final against Sevilla on May 28, marking his return to competitive action.

2.4. Return to Sevilla and Loan Spells

On August 4, 2018, Vidal returned to Sevilla FC for a fee of 8.50 M EUR plus 2.00 M EUR in variables. However, he struggled to establish himself in the first team during this second spell and was deemed surplus to requirements by new manager Julen Lopetegui in July 2019.

On July 28, 2019, Vidal was loaned to fellow top-tier club Deportivo Alavés for the season. After the loan spell, on July 1, 2021, he and Sevilla mutually agreed to terminate his contract, leading to his departure from the club.

2.5. RCD Espanyol

Vidal made his second return to RCD Espanyol on August 18, 2021, signing a two-year contract with the club. He remained with Espanyol until the conclusion of his contract on June 31, 2023, after which he departed the club.

3. International Career

Aleix Vidal during his debut match for Catalonia

Vidal made his debut for the Catalonia national football team on December 30, 2013, playing the second half of a 4-1 victory over the Cape Verde national football team at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

On May 26, 2015, Vidal and his Sevilla teammate Sergio Rico received their first call-ups to the Spain national football team, ahead of a friendly match against the Costa Rica national football team and a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against the Belarus national football team. He made his senior international debut for Spain in the 2-1 victory against Costa Rica at the Estadio Reino de León on June 11, 2015. He played the entire first half before being substituted for his former Sevilla partner Vitolo.

4. Career Statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Reus	2006-07	Tercera División	1	0	-		-		-		1	0
Espanyol B	2008-09	Tercera División	2	0	-		-		-		2	0
Panthrakikos (loan)	2008-09	Super League Greece	8	0	-		-		-		8	0
Pobla Mafumet	2009-10	Tercera División	31	7	-		-		-		31	7
Gimnàstic	2009-10	Segunda División	1	0	0	0	-		-		1	0
Mallorca B	2010-11	Segunda División B	35	6	-		-		-		35	6
Almería B	2011-12	Segunda División B	1	2	-		-		-		1	2
Almería	2011-12	Segunda División	41	5	2	0	-		-		43	5
	2012-13	Segunda División	37	4	4	1	-		4^a	2	45	7
	2013-14	La Liga	38	6	4	1	-		-		42	7
	Total		116	15	10	2	-		4	2	130	19
Sevilla	2014-15	La Liga	31	4	4	0	11^b	2	1^c	0	47	6
Barcelona	2015-16		9	0	5	0	0	0	-		14	0
	2016-17		6	2	4	0	1^d	0	1^e	0	12	2
	2017-18		15	1	5	1	4^d	0	1^e	0	25	2
	Total		30	3	14	1	5	0	2	0	51	4
Sevilla	2018-19	La Liga	11	0	2	0	7^b	0	1^e	0	21	0
	2020-21	La Liga	12	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	19	0
	Total		23	0	9	0	7	0	1	0	40	0
Alavés (loan)	2019-20	La Liga	29	2	0	0	-		-		29	2
Espanyol	2021-22	La Liga	31	2	3	0	-		-		34	2
	2022-23	La Liga	25	0	3	0	-		-		28	0
	Total		56	2	6	0	-		-		62	2
Career total			364	41	43	3	23	2	8	2	438	48

Notes:
^a Appearances in La Liga play-offs
^b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
^c Appearance in UEFA Super Cup
^d Appearances in UEFA Champions League
^e Appearance in Supercopa de España

5. Honours

Sevilla

UEFA Europa League: 2014-15

Barcelona

La Liga: 2015-16, 2017-18
Copa del Rey: 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18
Supercopa de España: 2016

Individual

UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2014-15