Jeffrén Suárez

Early life

Born in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela, Jeffrén was just one year old when his family left the country for the Spanish island of Tenerife.

FC Barcelona talent scouts spotted him and, in 2004, he was signed for its youth teams from CD Tenerife, first being coached by Guillermo Hoyos, who played him as a midfielder.

Barcelona

Jeffrén played three full seasons with FC Barcelona B, suffering Segunda División B relegation in 2006–07, and scoring six goals in 30 games in the following season in an immediate promotion back. On 8 November 2006, at the age of 18, he made his debut with the first team, against CF Badalona in a Copa del Rey round-of-32 match, coming on as a substitute for Javier Saviola in the 83rd minute of a 4–0 home win (6–1 on aggregate).

Impressed at the player's performance for the reserves, first-team manager Pep Guardiola called Jeffrén for the 2008–09 pre-season, where he played all seven matches scoring twice, including once on 30 July against ACF Fiorentina in the 47th minute of a 3–1 win. On 17 May 2009, he made his first La Liga appearance (of two in the season), as already crowned champions Barcelona lost 1–2 at RCD Mallorca.

On 19 December 2009, Jeffrén replaced Thierry Henry late into the FIFA Club World Cup final against Estudiantes de La Plata. Two days later, he picked up a leg muscle injury that left him out for 4–5 weeks in a 1–1 friendly draw with Kazma Sporting Club in Kuwait, in commemoration of the Asian side's 45th anniversary.

On 10 February 2010, Barcelona announced Jeffrén had signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him at the Camp Nou until 30 June 2012 with a buyout clause set at €10 million. On the 14th, he started as right back in a 1–2 loss at Atlético Madrid.

On 3 April 2010, Jeffrén scored his first top division goal after a low cross from Éric Abidal, in a 4–1 home win against Athletic Bilbao. On the 24th he added another in spectacular fashion, in a 3–1 home success over Xerez CD and, as the Catalans renewed their domestic supremacy, finished the campaign with 18 official appearances.

Jeffrén appeared less for Barça's first team in 2010–11. On 29 November 2010, he came from the bench to close the scoring in El Clásico against Real Madrid, in a 5–0 home win.

Sporting

On 4 August 2011, Sporting Clube de Portugal signed Jeffrén for €3.75 million, plus €200,000 in bonus. He penned a five-year contract with a buy-out clause of €30 million. In addition, If the Lisbon club sold the player for a fee higher than €3.75M, Barcelona would receive 20% of the added value/differential value. The Catalans also retained an exclusive buy-back option for €8 million and €12 million, in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Jeffrén played his first official game with Sporting on 13 August, in a 1–1 home draw against S.C. Olhanense. He spent the vast majority of the first half of his first season sidelined with physical problems.

Jeffrén returned to action on 11 March 2012, and only needed 12 minutes on the pitch to score two goals in a 5–0 home win against Vitória de Guimarães. He contributed with only 13 league games in his second year, and was deemed surplus to requirements subsequently.

Valladolid

On 1 February 2014, Jeffrén returned to the Spanish top flight when he joined Real Valladolid on a two-and-a-half-year deal. He made his debut on 9 February at home against Elche CF, coming on at half time for Víctor Pérez: he crossed the ball for Humberto Osorio's 2–2 equaliser, but only a minute later left the pitch with a muscular injury after his team had already used all three substitutes.

On 2 November 2014, Jeffrén scored his first goal for Valladolid, coming off the bench to score an 81st-minute winner in a 2–1 win over Girona FC at the Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla that put his team on top of the second division table. He finished the campaign with three goals from 35 games, the other two coming in each fixture against former side Barcelona B – the first being a 7–0 thrashing on 21 December.

On 29 August 2015, Jeffrén terminated his contract with the Castile and León club.

Eupen

On the same day as leaving Valladolid, Jeffrén signed a three-year deal at K.A.S. Eupen from the Belgian Second Division. He made his debut on 13 September, replacing Guy Dufour in the 57th minute of a 1–4 home loss against K. Lierse SK. Thirteen days later he scored his first goal for his new team, an added-time strike to seal a 3–1 win over R. White Star Bruxelles at the Kehrwegstadion.

On 3 October 2015, Jeffrén netted twice in a 5–1 rout at K.S.K. Heist. He finished the season with three successful strikes in 17 games, as the team came third and were promoted to the Belgian First Division A for administrative reasons.

International career

Jeffrén was part of the Spanish under-19 squad that won the 2006 UEFA European Championship, playing eight matches and scoring three goals. Shortly after, he was called by Venezuela national team coach Richard Páez for the 2007 Copa América, but decided not to switch allegiance.

On 6 February 2009, Jeffrén received his first call-up for Spain's under-21s. In 2011 he was selected by manager Luis Milla for the European Championships in Denmark, appearing in three games and scoring in the semifinal against Belarus (3–1 win) as the national team won its third trophy in the category.

Following his Spanish international youth spell, Jeffrén showed openness to represent Venezuela at senior level, an option he himself had discarded in 2010 when he was consulted by a journalist of his native country. On 19 March 2015, however, he acquired the necessary paperwork, being called up for the first time on 18 August and gaining his first cap on 8 September by playing 31 minutes in a 1–1 friendly with Panama.

Club statistics

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