Gabriel_Veiga
Gabri Veiga
Spanish footballer (born 2002)
Gabriel Veiga Novas (Galician pronunciation: [ɡaβɾiˈɛl ˈvɛjɣɐ]; born 27 May 2002) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gabriel Veiga Novas | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (2002-05-27) 27 May 2002 (age 21) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | O Porriño, Galicia, Spain | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Central midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Al-Ahli | |||||||||||||
| Number | 24 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| UD Louro Tameiga | ||||||||||||||
| Santa Mariña | ||||||||||||||
| Celta | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Celta B | 63 | (10) | |||||||||||
| 2021–2023 | Celta | 50 | (11) | |||||||||||
| 2023– | Al-Ahli | 17 | (4) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Spain U18 | 5 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2022– | Spain U21 | 13 | (2) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 November 2023 | ||||||||||||||
Celta
Veiga was born in O Porriño, Pontevedra, Galicia, and was a RC Celta de Vigo youth graduate. He made his senior debut with the reserves at the age of 17 on 25 August 2019, starting in a 2–2 Segunda División B away draw against Internacional de Madrid.[1]
Veiga scored his first goal on 1 December 2019, netting the opener in a 1–6 loss at CD Atlético Baleares.[2] He made his first team – and La Liga – debut on 19 September of the following year, coming on as a late substitute for Renato Tapia in a 2–1 home win against Valencia CF.[3]
Veiga scored his first professional goal on 10 September 2022, but in a 4–1 away loss against Atlético Madrid. The following 11 January, he was promoted to the main squad, being assigned the number 24 jersey.[4]
Al-Ahli
Despite strong interest from top European clubs including Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Napoli,[5][6] on 26 August 2023, Veiga joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli, signing a three-year deal,[7] after activating his €40m release clause.[8] Veiga's decision to reject interest from European clubs in favour of the lucrative contract offer from Saudi Arabia drew criticism from fans, media and fellow players for a perceived lack of sporting ambition.[9][10] Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos labelled the move as "embarrassing".[9]
Club
- As of match played 16 February 2024[11]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[lower-alpha 1] | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Celta B | 2019–20 | Segunda División B | 14 | 1 | — | — | 14 | 1 | ||
| 2020–21 | Segunda División B | 17 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Primera División RFEF | 31 | 9 | — | — | 31 | 9 | |||
| 2022–23 | Primera Federación | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 63 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 64 | 10 | ||
| Celta | 2020–21 | La Liga | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
| 2021–22 | La Liga | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | La Liga | 36 | 11 | 3 | 0 | — | 39 | 11 | ||
| 2023–24 | La Liga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 50 | 11 | 6 | 0 | — | 56 | 11 | |||
| Al-Ahli | 2023–24 | Saudi Pro League | 16 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 18 | 4 | |
| Career total | 129 | 25 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 138 | 25 | ||
- Includes Copa del Rey, King Cup
- Appearance in Segunda División B play-offs
Individual
- "Nueva temporada, nuevo juvenil debutando con el B" [New season, new juvenil making his debut with the B-team] (in Spanish). La Voz de Galicia. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- "Un gol para el recuerdo en una mañana para olvidar" [A goal to remember in a morning to forget] (in Spanish). La Voz de Galicia. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- "La magia de Aspas tumba al Valencia" [The magic of Aspas bring down Valencia] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 19 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- "Gabri Veiga pasa a tener ficha del primer equipo del Celta" [Gabri Veiga starts having a place in Celta's first team] (in Spanish). La Voz de Galicia. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- Romano, Fabrizio (28 June 2023). "Manchester City join Liverpool and Chelsea in race for Celta's Gabri Veiga". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
- "Las razones de Gabri Veiga para irse a jugar a Arabia" (in Spanish). Marca. 26 August 2023.
- Al-Ahli Saudi FC [@ALAHLI_FCEN] (26 August 2023). "Bienvenido, Gabri! 💚" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 August 2023 – via Twitter.
- "Saudi Al-Ahli announced the transfer of the Spanish supertalent". Dailysports. 26 August 2023.
- Latham-Coyle, Harry (24 August 2023). "Toni Kroos calls Spanish 21-year-old's transfer to Saudi Arabia 'embarrassing'". The Independent.
- Gabri Veiga at BDFutbol
- "Gabri Veiga named LaLiga Santander Player of the Month for February". La Liga. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- Profile at the RC Celta de Vigo website
- Gabri Veiga at BDFutbol
- Gabri Veiga at Soccerway
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