.jpg) Gerard withSpain in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gerard Moreno Balagueró[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1992-04-07)7 April 1992 (age 33)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Santa Perpètua, Spain | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Striker | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Villarreal | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Damm | ||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2007 | Espanyol | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2010 | Badalona | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Villarreal C | 38 | (34) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Villarreal B | 29 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2015 | Villarreal | 40 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | →Mallorca (loan) | 31 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2018 | Espanyol | 107 | (36) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018– | Villarreal | 200 | (85) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2024 | Spain | 18 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Catalonia | 3 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:14, 31 January 2026 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Gerard Moreno Balagueró (born 7 April 1992) is a Spanish professionalfootballer who plays as astriker forLa Liga clubVillarreal.
In his career, he played forVillarreal (two spells),Mallorca andEspanyol, winning the2021 Europa League and twoZarra Trophies with the first club. InLa Liga, he played more than 300 games and scored more than 120 goals.
Moreno made his full debut forSpain in 2019, being part of the squad atUEFA Euro 2020.
Born inSanta Perpètua de Mogoda,Barcelona,Catalonia, Moreno joinedVillarreal in 2010 from local clubBadalona.[2] On 5 March 2011, while still a junior, he made his debut withthe reserves, appearing as a latesubstitute in a 1–2 home loss againstRayo Vallecano.[3] During his early spell he also represented thethird team, scoring at an astonishing rate in theTercera División.[4]
Moreno scored his first goal as a professional on 10 December 2011, contributing to a 3–1Segunda División home victory overXerez.[5] He played his first official game with Villarreal's main squad roughly one year later, starting in a 1–0 loss atElche.[6] He scored his first goal for theYellow Submarine on 25 January 2013, opening a 3–0 defeat ofSabadell.[7]
On 8 July 2013, Moreno signed withMallorca of the second tier in aseason-long loan.[8] He subsequently returned to Villarreal, being definitely promoted to the first team now inLa Liga.[9]
Moreno made his debut in theSpanish top flight on 14 September 2014, starting in a 0–0 away draw againstGranada.[10] He scored his first goal in the competition ten days later, in a 1–1 draw atEibar.[11]
On 13 August 2015, Moreno signed a five-year deal with fellow top-division sideEspanyol,[12] who bought 50% of his rights for a €1.5 million fee.[13] The following 23 January, he scored in a 2–2 home draw against his former team before beingsent off.[14]
Moreno netted 16 times in the2017–18 season, in an 11th-place finish.[15]
Moreno returned to Villarreal on 12 June 2018, agreeing to a five-year contract. Having retained 50% of the player's rights previously, his former club paid Espanyol €20 million in the transfer to buy back the remaining 50% and acquire the player outright.[16]
Moreno finished2019–20 with 18 league goals, thus winning theZarra Trophy.[17] He renewed the accolade thefollowing season with 23 and a team-best sevenassists,[18] scoring a further seven times in theirvictorious run in theUEFA Europa League;[19][20][21] he was later voted theEuropa League's Player of the Season, beatingManchester United duoBruno Fernandes andEdinson Cavani.[22]
On 10 August 2021, Moreno signed a new six-year deal.[23][21] The following day, he scored in theUEFA Super Cup againstChelsea,[24] surpassingGiuseppe Rossi to become the club's second all-time top scorer at 83 goals; only Adriano García remained ahead of him with 109.[25][26][27][21]
Moreno featured much less in the2021–22 and2022–23 campaigns, due to injury problems.[28][29][30] He scored his 100th competitive goal for Villarreal on in his 222nd appearance on 12 November 2022, netting twice in a 9–0 away rout of amateursSanta Amalia in thefirst round of theCopa del Rey.[27]
Moreno was nevercapped forSpain at anyyouth level. He made his senior debut on 15 October 2019, playing the entire 1–1 draw inSweden for theUEFA Euro 2020qualifiers.[31][32] One month later, for the same competition and also as a starter, he scored his first goal in a 7–0 rout ofMalta inCádiz for the already qualified hosts.[33] On 18 November, he added a brace in the 5–0 victory overRomania,[34] being included inLuis Enrique's 24-man squad for the finals on 24 May 2021.[35]
| Club | Season | League | Copa del Rey | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Villarreal C | 2010–11 | Tercera División | 38 | 34 | — | — | — | 38 | 34 | |||
| Villarreal B | 2010–11 | Segunda División | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||||
| 2012–13 | Segunda División B | 24 | 12 | — | — | — | 24 | 12 | ||||
| Total | 29 | 13 | — | — | — | 29 | 13 | |||||
| Villarreal | 2012–13 | Segunda División | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 3 | ||
| 2014–15 | La Liga | 26 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7[a] | 4 | — | 39 | 16 | ||
| Total | 40 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | — | 53 | 19 | |||
| Mallorca (loan) | 2013–14 | Segunda División | 31 | 11 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 32 | 12 | ||
| Espanyol | 2015–16 | La Liga | 32 | 7 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 7 | ||
| 2016–17 | 37 | 13 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 13 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 38 | 16 | 6 | 3 | — | — | 44 | 19 | ||||
| Total | 107 | 36 | 11 | 3 | — | — | 118 | 39 | ||||
| Villarreal | 2018–19 | La Liga | 35 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 11[a] | 4 | — | 49 | 13 | |
| 2019–20 | 35 | 18 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 37 | 20 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 33 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 12[a] | 7 | — | 46 | 30 | |||
| 2021–22 | 17 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 7[b] | 2 | 1[c] | 1 | 27 | 13 | ||
| 2022–23 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 5[d] | 1 | — | 29 | 11 | |||
| 2023–24 | 30 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 6[a] | 1 | — | 38 | 11 | |||
| 2024–25 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 3 | ||||
| 2025–26 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | — | 14 | 7 | |||
| Total | 200 | 85 | 14 | 7 | 43 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 258 | 108 | ||
| Career total | 445 | 189 | 32 | 16 | 50 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 528 | 225 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2019 | 3 | 3 |
| 2020 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 18 | 5 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 November 2019 | Estadio Ramón de Carranza, Cádiz, Spain |  Malta | 6–0 | 7–0 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying |
| 2 | 18 November 2019 | Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid, Spain |  Romania | 2–0 | 5–0 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying |
| 3 | 3–0 | |||||
| 4 | 14 November 2020 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland |  Switzerland | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A |
| 5 | 31 March 2021 | Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville, Spain |  Kosovo | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Espanyol
Villarreal
Individual
