| Gonzalo Villar | |
| Full Name: | Gonzalo Villar del Fraile |
| Birth Date: | 23 March 1998 |
| Birth Place: | Murcia, Spain |
| Height: | 1.81 m[1] |
| Position: | Central midfielder |
| Currentclub: | Granada |
| Clubnumber: | 8 |
| Youthyears1: | 2009–2015 |
| Youthclubs1: | Elche |
| Youthyears2: | 2015–2017 |
| Youthclubs2: | Valencia |
| Years1: | 2015 |
| Clubs1: | Elche B |
| Caps1: | 3 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2016–2018 |
| Clubs2: | Valencia B |
| Caps2: | 32 |
| Goals2: | 2 |
| Years3: | 2018–2020 |
| Clubs3: | Elche |
| Caps3: | 35 |
| Goals3: | 1 |
| Years4: | 2020–2023 |
| Clubs4: | Roma |
| Caps4: | 42 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2022 |
| Clubs5: | → Getafe (loan) |
| Caps5: | 10 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs6: | → Sampdoria (loan) |
| Caps6: | 15 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2023 |
| Clubs7: | → Getafe (loan) |
| Caps7: | 16 |
| Goals7: | 0 |
| Years8: | 2023– |
| Clubs8: | Granada |
| Caps8: | 47 |
| Goals8: | 1 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2016 |
| Nationalteam1: | Spain U19 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2019–2021 |
| Nationalteam2: | Spain U21 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 10 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 1 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2021 |
| Nationalteam3: | Spain |
| Nationalcaps3: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 20 November 2024 |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 9 June 2021 |
Gonzalo Villar del Fraile (pronounced as /es/; born 23 March 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Segunda División club Granada.
Villar was born in Murcia, and represented Elche CF as a youth. On 4 January 2015, aged just 16, he made his senior debut with the reserves by coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–3 Segunda División B home loss against UE Sant Andreu.[2]
On 28 August 2015 Villar joined Valencia CF for a fee of € 175,000, and returned to youth football.[3] Promoted to the B-team ahead of the 2017–18 season, he was a first-choice in Lubo Penev's side,[4] scoring his first senior goal on 26 August 2017 in a 4–1 home routing of CF Peralada-Girona B.
On 9 July 2018, Villar returned to Elche, being assigned to the main squad in Segunda División;[5] Valencia retained 80% of his future transfer.[6] He made his professional debut on 18 August, starting in a 0–0 home draw against Granada CF.[7]
Villar scored his first professional goal on 24 November 2019, netting his team's third in a 3–3 away draw against Málaga CF.[8]
On 29 January 2020, Villar moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with AS Roma. Roma paid an initial fee of €4 million for his transfer, with potential extra €1 million due based on performance.[9] He made his Serie A debut on 15 February, replacing Diego Perotti in a 1–2 away loss at Atalanta BC.[10]
On 13 January 2022, Villar returned to his home country after agreeing to a loan deal with La Liga side Getafe CF until the end of the season.[11]
On 8 August 2022, Villar joined Sampdoria on a season-long loan with an option to buy.[12]
On 13 January 2023, Villar returned to Getafe on a season-long loan with the option to make the deal permanent, which becomes an obligation if certain conditions are met.[13]
On 4 August 2023, Villar signed a contract with Granada CF, newly-promoted to the top tier.[14]
Due to the isolation of some national team players following the positive COVID-19 test of Sergio Busquets, Spain's under-21 squad were called up for the international friendly against Lithuania on 8 June 2021.[15] Villar made his senior debut in the match as Spain won 4–0.[16]
Villar's younger brother Javier is also a footballer and a midfielder. He too was groomed at Elche.[17]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Elche B | 2014–15 | Segunda División B | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Valencia B | 2015–16 | Segunda División B | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | Segunda División B | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Segunda División B | 31 | 2 | — | — | 31 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 32 | 2 | — | — | 32 | 2 | |||||
| Elche | 2018–19 | Segunda División | 15 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 17 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20 | Segunda División | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 22 | 1 | |||
| Total | 35 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | 39 | 2 | ||||
| Roma | 2019–20 | Serie A | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | Serie A | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 47 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 64 | 0 | |||
| Getafe (loan) | 2021–22 | La Liga | 10 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| Sampdoria (loan) | 2022–23 | Serie A | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| Getafe (loan) | 2022–23 | La Liga | 16 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 | |||
| Granada | 2023–24 | La Liga | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 36 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 188 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 216 | 5 | |||