Profile of new signing Borja Iglesias

From Andalusia to the Rhineland: Borja, who had previously played exclusively for Spanish clubs, is leaving his home country for the first time in his career to join Bayer 04. Born in north-western Spain, he started his career with the youth set-up at SD Compostela, the capital club in Galicia. After playing for youth teams at Valencia, CD Roda and Villarreal, the 1.87 metre tall striker finally started his professional career in 2012/13 with the Villarreal C team.

From the fifth tier to the top flight

Iglesias first played for Villarreal in the Tercera División, the fifth tier of the Spanish league structure. At the age of 20, he moved on to Celta Vigo where he featured in the second team in the third-tier Segunda División B. He scored 13 goals in 35 games in his first season. After seven goals at the start of the following season, he finally made his debut in LaLiga, the Spanish top flight, on 3 January 2015. The right-footed player made his way up from the fifth to the first division within two and a half years.

Iglesias continued to play for the second team in the following seasons – and he demonstrated his goalscoring ability in one campaign after the next. The rugged striker netted 32 goals in 37 games in 2016/17. A brace against Caudal Deportivo in December 2016 saw the centre-forward become the record goalscorer for Celta Vigo B – Iglesias still holds that record today.

Breakthrough in LaLiga – debut for Spain

Having come to the attention of second division Real Zaragoza, Iglesias went on a season-long loan to the northern Spanish side in the summer of 2017. With 22 goals and six assists, he played a significant role in Zaragoza – who finished sixteenth in the previous season – finishing third in 2017/18 and thereby qualifying for the play-offs to the top division. Promotion did not happen and Iglesias returned to Celta Vigo in the summer of 2018 at the end of the loan period. Shortly after that he signed a four-year deal with top-flight club Espanyol. The centre-forward played his first full season in the first division and he quickly became a regular first choice and again impressed with a host of goals that saw Real Betis sign him in 2019/20 after a year at Espanyol.

After initial problems, things went right for Iglesias from the 2022/21 season: He scored over ten goals in that campaign as well as the following two seasons. Iglesias celebrated highlights in his career during his time at Betis: The Spaniard made his debut in the UEFA Europa League and in the following year won the Spanish domestic cup competition, the Copa del Rey, scoring five goals in eight games – including in the semi-final and final matches.

He made his debut for Spain on 24 September 2022 at the age of 29. The opponents in the UEFA Nations League back then were Switzerland with captain Granit Xhaka, who was then playing for Arsenal in the Premier League. Borja Iglesias will renew acquaintances with the Werkself player now he has taken his first step in football away from Spain, as a teammate at Leverkusen.