Nico González
González playing for Barcelona in 2021
Personal information
Full name Nicolás González Iglesias[1]
Date of birth (2002-01-03) 3 January 2002[2]
Place of birth A Coruña, Spain[1]
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Porto
Number 16
Youth career
2009–2013 Montañeros
2013–2020 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2022 Barcelona B 26 (0)
2021–2023 Barcelona 27 (2)
2022–2023 → Valencia (loan) 26 (1)
2023– Porto 9 (0)
International career‡
2018–2019 Spain U17 8 (0)
2021– Spain U21 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:20, 14 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 August 2023

Nicolás González Iglesias (born 3 January 2002), sometimes known as just Nico, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Porto.

Club career

Barcelona

Nico was born in A Coruña, Galicia, and started his career with local side Montañeros at the age of seven. In December 2012, he agreed to a move to Barcelona, effective as of the following July.[3]

On 19 May 2019, aged just 17, Nico made his senior debut for the reserves, coming on as a late substitute for Kike Saverio in a 2–1 Segunda División B away loss against Castellón.[4] In the 2020–21 season, he was initially a member of the Juvenil A before starting to feature regularly for the B-team from November 2020 onwards.

On 12 May 2021, Nico renewed his contract until 2024, with a €500 million buyout clause.[5] After featuring in the main squad during the pre-season, he made his first team – and La Liga – debut on 15 August, replacing Sergio Busquets in the opening game of the 2021–22 La Liga season, a 4–2 win over Real Sociedad.[6][7]

Nico scored his first professional goal on 12 December 2021, netting the opener in a 2–2 away draw against Osasuna.[8]

Loan to Valencia

On 13 August 2022, Nico renewed his contract until 2026, and later signed with Valencia on a season-long loan.[9]

Porto

On 29 July 2023, Nico signed a five-year contract with Primeira Liga club FC Porto, for a reported fee of €8.5 million, with Barcelona having a buy-back clause.[10][11]

He made his debut for the Portuguese side on 14 August, coming off the bench to replace Romário Baró in the 70th minute of a 2–1 win away at Moreirense, in the Primeira Liga.[12] One week later, Nico made his first start for Porto, in a 2–1 home win over Farense.[13]

Personal life

He is the son of former Spanish footballer and Deportivo La Coruña legend Fran González and the nephew of José Ramón.[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 January 2024[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Barcelona B 2018–19 Segunda División B 10— ———10
2019–20 Segunda División B 00— ——0000
2020–21 Segunda División B 230— ——1[lower-alpha 1]0240
2021–22 Primera División RFEF 20— ——0020
Total 260— ——10270
Barcelona 2021–22 La Liga 27220 —7[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0372
Valencia (loan) 2022–23 La Liga 26100 ——00261
Porto 2023–24 Primeira Liga 9 0 3 0 1 0 4[lower-alpha 4] 0 0 0 17 0
Career total 88350 1 0110201073
  1. ↑ Appearance(s) in Segunda División B play-offs
  2. ↑ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, three appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ↑ Appearance(s) in Supercopa de España
  4. ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League

References

  1. 1 2 Nico González at WorldFootball.net
  2. 1 2 "Nico González". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  3. ↑ "Nicolás, rumbo a La Masía" [Nicolás, towards La Masía] (in Spanish). La Voz de Galicia. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "Nico, el hijo de Fran, debuta con el Barça B" [Nico, the son of Fran, debuts with Barça B] (in Spanish). Sport. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  5. ↑ "Nico González renews through to 2024". FC Barcelona. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "Braithwaite 9/10, De Jong and Depay 8/10 as Barcelona win to begin post-Messi era". ESPN.com. 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  7. ↑ "Nico and Gavi, latest Masía debutants". FC Barcelona. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  8. ↑ "Nico and Ez Abde score first goals for FC Barcelona". FC Barcelona. 12 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "Nico renews contract to 2026, loaned to Valencia". FC Barcelona. 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "Nico González é Dragão até 2028". FC Porto (in Portuguese). 2023-07-29. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  11. ↑ "Agreement for the transfer of Nico to Porto". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  12. ↑ "Moreirense ainda assustou, mas o FC Porto deu a volta em sete minutos" [Moreirense still scared, but FC Porto turned it around in seven minutes] (in European Portuguese). Diário de Notícias. 14 August 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  13. ↑ "Marcano, goleador dos últimos minutos. FC Porto vence Farense na compensação" [Marcano, last-minute goalscorer. FC Porto beats Farense in extra-time]. TSF (in European Portuguese). 20 August 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  14. ↑ "El Barça atará al hijo de Fran" [Barça will tie the son of Fran down]. as.com (in Spanish). 15 April 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  15. ↑ Nico González at Soccerway
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