Iván de la Peña

Club career Born in Santander, Cantabria, de la Peña was recruited to FC Barcelona's academy in 1991 and made his senior debut for the reserves two years later. He went on to play 37 games for them, and first-team manager Johan Cruyff handed him his official debut for the main squad on 3 September 1995 as he came on as a substitute – and scored – in a 2–0 away win against Real Valladolid; at 19, he was initially regarded as the natural successor to Pep Guardiola. However, he gradually fell out of favour and found himself dropped, although he netted a career-best seven league goals in that rookie season.

With the arrival of Bobby Robson in 1996, de la Peña was given a second chance to establish himself in the team. He subsequently developed a partnership with Ronaldo and was a prominent member of the squad that won the Copa del Rey/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup/UEFA Supercup treble in 1997. He was also voted best young player by newspaper El País twice during this timeframe.

De la Peña was deemed surplus to requirements at Barça once again after another Dutch coach was appointed, Louis van Gaal, However, he failed to establish himself in Serie A and was loaned to Olympique de Marseille. This move was not successful either, and he returned to Barcelona on loan for 2000–01; after only appearing nine times throughout the season under Lorenzo Serra Ferrer (one start, against Racing de Santander), he returned to Italy, being released the following summer.

On 29 August 2002, de la Peña signed a one-year deal with Barcelona neighbours RCD Espanyol, where he produced some of the best football in his career. as a result, Espanyol again qualified for the UEFA Cup and eventually reached the competition final, losing to Sevilla FC on penalties.

From 2007 to 2009, with his contract extended, de la Peña was severely hindered by injury problems. However, on 21 February 2009, he managed to net twice in a 2–1 win at Barça in the Derbi Barceloní, as one side ranked first in the league and the other last.

After the death of new captain Daniel Jarque in August 2009, de la Peña was named as his replacement.

International career De la Peña, alongside the likes of Gaizka Mendieta, Fernando Morientes and Raúl, played for the Spanish under-21s at both the 1996 UEFA European Championship and the 1996 Summer Olympics. He helped the nation reach the quarter-finals in the latter.

Despite this, de la Peña did not make his debut for the senior team until 9 February 2005, at the age of 28 years and 9 months in a 5–0 victory over San Marino for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers held in Almería. He made a further four appearances until the end of the year, his last being against the same opponents.

Post-retirement On 8 June 2011, de la Peña joined Serie A club AS Roma's coaching staff under new manager Luis Enrique, a former Barcelona teammate. It was announced in August that he would be taking a leave of absence for family reasons.

De la Peña subsequently worked as a player agent, with his agency Footalent representing Barcelona youth products Carles Aleñá, Eric García and Gavi among others.

Personal life De la Peña's son, also named Iván (born 2001), played as a defender in the lower leagues.

On 6 July 2000, he married Lourdes Asensi, daughter of the legendary Barcelona player Juan Manuel Asensi.

Career statistics Club Source:

International

Honours Barcelona La Liga: 1997–98 Copa del Rey: 1996–97, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1998–99

Espanyol Copa del Rey: 2005–06 UEFA Cup runner-up: 2006–07

Spain UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 1996

Individual Don Balón Award – Breakthrough Player of the Year: 1995–96, 1996–97