Paco Alcacer

At 30 years old, Paco Alcacer has this physical status:

Francisco "Paco" Alcácer García (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpako alˈkaθeɾ]; born 30 August 1993) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for UAE Pro League club Sharjah.

Having come through the Valencia youth ranks, he started playing with the first team in 2010, and became a regular following a loan at Getafe, totalling 43 goals in 118 matches. In 2016 he signed for Barcelona for €30 million, winning two Copa del Rey trophies and the 2017–18 La Liga during his spell as a reserve to Luis Suárez before leaving for Borussia Dortmund on loan. He signed a permanent deal in Germany in early 2019 after a successful start. He returned to Spain in January 2020, winning the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League with Villarreal.

Alcácer won the European Championship twice with Spain's under-19 side, and made his senior international debut in 2014.

Source

Club career

Alcacer, who was born in Torrent, Valencia's local community, was a product of Valencia's youth system. He made his senior debut in the 2009–10 season, scoring three goals in 15 games with the reserve team and losing Segunda División B.

Alcácer played in his first match with the first team on Sunday in the Copa del Rey, winning by 7–1 on aggregate against UD Logros in a 4–1 home win over Isco (also Isco's senior bow). He scored 27 times during the B's return to the third tier as champions during the 1998 season.

The 44-year-old died on August 12, 2011, after Alcácer scored his third and final goal in a 3–0 friendly victory over Roma and was accompanied by his parents, but his father collapsed to the ground after suffering a heart attack. He returned to training less than a week after being back for "therapy" and played the entire game with the reserves three days afterward.

Alcácer made his La Liga debut against Valencia on January 14, 2012, appearing as a replacement for Sofiane Feghouli for the last 20 minutes of a 0–1 away loss to Real Sociedad. He made two other appearances from the bench, but he wasn't scoring at a rate of one goal every two games with the B team.

Alcácer played 20 minutes in a tense 1–1 away draw against Deportivo de La Corua, his first official game against Deportivo de La Corua. He was on loan to Getafe for 2012–13. In a 1–3 loss, he scored his first goal in the top division on January 7, 2013 at Rayo Vallecano. He scored four times in total during his time in Madrid.

Alcácer scored his first senior goal for his nascent team on October 3, 2013, in the UEFA Europa League's group stage. In a 2–2 home draw against Espanyol on January 25, he first found the net for Los Che in the domestic league, and he added another on matchday, scoring the 3–2 winner at the Camp Nou against Barcelona.

Alcácer scored his first hat-trick of his career on April 10, 2014, helping to reverse a 0–3 lead to defeat Basel 5–0 at home and qualify for the Europa League's semi-finals. It was his 14th competitive goal of the season and seventh in continental competition; this European haul made him the edition's second-highest scorer after compatriot Jonathan Soriano, who scored eight for Red Bull Salzburg, his second highest scorer.

Alcacer scored the first goal in a 2–1 home victory over Milan for the Orange Trophy through a long-range shot on August 17th, 2014, and was given the number '9' jersey, previously worn by Hélder Postiga. He was issued a straight red card for striking Juan Carlos on December 9, right at the end of a 1–1 draw in Granada.

Alcácer had agreed to his deal until 2020, but the buy-out clause had been increased to €80 million on January 27, 2015.

Alcácer and Dani Parejo scored twice each in a 5–1 victory over third-place Celta on Friday. Following a poor run of results, the former captaincy was stripped of his captaincy in favour of the former by boss Gary Neville on January 21.

In a 4–0 home loss to Eibar on April 20, Alcacer ended his barren spell with a hat-trick. He finished the season with 15 in all competitions, including an unexpected 12th-place finish.

On the 30th of August 2016, Alcacer signed for Barcelona for €30 million on a five-year contract, and the team's fourth-choice forward, alongside Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suárez, was replaced by the former on loan. He made his home debut on September 10th in a 1–2 home loss to Alavés, only passing eight times in 66 minutes before being replaced by Suárez.

Alcácer scored his first official goal for the Blaugrana on December 21, 2016, assisting with the fifth in a 7-0 home victory over Hércules for his team's first round qualifier in the Spanish Cup. In a 3–0 home win over Athletic Bilbao on February 4, he scored his first league goal for his new team, starting in place of the rested Suárez.

In the domestic cup final, filling in for the suspended Suárez, Alcácer played the full 90 minutes, scoring Barcelona's last goal in the 3–1 win over Alavés. In a 2–1 home win over Sevilla that kept his team four points clear at the top of the league standings, he scored a brace on November 5th. He scored his first goal for the club in the UEFA Champions League a month later, leading to a 2–0 group stage victory over Sporting CP.

Alcácer joined Borussia Dortmund on a season-long loan with the possibility to buy on August 28, 2018. He made his debut on September 14th, replacing Maximilian Philipp midway through the second half of the home match against Eintracht Frankfurt and scoring the final goal in a 3–1 victory. In a 4–3 loss of Augsburg at the Westfalenstadion in which he won the game with a free kick in the last minute, he scored five goals off the bench in his next two matches, two late goals, and a hat-trick.

In a 2–1 away loss to Fortuna Düsseldorf on December 18, Alcacer scored his tenth goal from the bench for the season, setting a new Bundesliga record for the most goals scored in a single campaign by a replacement. On February 1, the club opted to sign him permanently for €23 million, which was the club's fifth year on record, and he agreed to a five-year deal.

Alcácer finished 2018-19-19 with 18 league goals, trailing only Bayern Lewandowski for top scorer, but he lost his spot in January after signing Erling Haaland. In a 2–0 victory over Bayern in the DFL-Supercup, he claimed his second trophy on August 3rd.

On January 30, Alcacer returned to Spain's top flight, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract with Villarreal and becoming the club's most expensive signing in the process at €25 million. On his first day against Osasuna, he scored, assisting the hosts in a 3–1 victory.

Alcácer scored six times for the 2020-21 Europa League champions, who were playing the last 13 minutes of the second half and converting his attempt against Manchester United in the final.

Alcácer's aim was to join UAE Pro League side Sharjah on a season-long loan on August 17, 2022. He had signed a three-year contract two days earlier, but two days later, after ending his relationship with Villarreal by mutual consent, he signed a three-year contract.

International career

At all youth levels, Alcácer represented Spain. He reached the final of the 2010 European Under-17 Championships with Valencia teammate Juan Bernat and being named the competition's top scorer with six goals, including qualifiers, a new record; in addition, he won the European Under-19 Championship twice, both 2011 and 2012.

Alcácer was named by full team boss Vicente del Bosque in a 23-man squad for matches against France and Macedonia in September, making his debut on September after losing Diego Costa midway through the second half of an eventual 0–1 friendly defeat to the former. Costa's return from injury came four days later as he got off to a good start against Macedonia at the Estadi Ciutat de València, scoring his team's second goal in a 5–1 win for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers and also assisting Sergio Busquets' third. The substitute scored an 82nd-minute equalizer in their next qualifier, away from Slovakia on October 9th, but Spain lost 1–2.

Alcacer scored twice in a 4–0 victory over Luxembourg, the first by a Spanish player, one year later, to the day, as a first-half replacement for the injured lvaro Morata. However, he was not chosen for the final tournament in France.

Alcácer was called back by new manager Luis Enrique in October 2018, despite a good start to his time in Dortmund and more than two years after his last international appearance. In the first match, a 4–1 friendly victory in Cardiff, he scored a brace. In the second half, Spain lost 2-3, but he came back as a replacement in the second half and scored with his first touch of the ball, defeating Jordan Pickford in the far post corner of the goal.

Career statistics

Spain's score came first, while the score column shows the score after every Alcácer goal.

Source