Miguel Palanca

Miguel Palanca
Born	(1987-12-18) December 18, 1987 Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain
Occupation	Professional footballer (retired)
Years active	2006–2021
Known for	Playing as a right winger and forward for various clubs including Espanyol, Real Madrid, Elche, Numancia, Adelaide United, Gimnàstic, Korona Kielce, Anorthosis, FC Goa, FC Andorra, and Real Avilés Industrial

Miguel Palanca Fernández (born 18 December 1987) is a retired Spanish professional footballer who mainly operated as a right winger but was also deployed as a forward during his career.

Club career

Hailing from Tarragona, Catalonia, Palanca developed through the youth ranks of RCD Espanyol, making a single first-team appearance in the 2006–07 season while spending most of his time with Espanyol's reserve team. He made his debut in Spain’s top division on 29 April 2007, coming off the bench in a 3–1 defeat against Sevilla FC.

Subsequently, Palanca moved to Real Madrid, where he first appeared for the senior squad on 13 December 2008 during a 2–0 loss to FC Barcelona. He also featured as a substitute in a 1–0 victory over Valencia CF at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

For the 2009–10 campaign, Palanca was loaned out to Segunda División side CD Castellón. Following Castellón’s drop to a lower division, he secured a two-year contract with Elche CF, continuing in the second tier, with Real Madrid maintaining an option to repurchase him.

On 27 January 2015, after spending one and a half seasons with CD Numancia in the Segunda División, Palanca signed for Australian A-League club Adelaide United FC. His contract was not extended beyond that season.

On 8 July 2015, he agreed to a one-year contract with newly promoted Segunda División team Gimnàstic de Tarragona. He netted his first goals for his hometown club on 9 September during a Copa del Rey fixture against local adversaries Girona FC, scoring the winning penalty in the shootout.

Palanca ventured abroad again on 20 July 2016 by signing a two-year deal with Polish Ekstraklasa outfit Korona Kielce. He recorded his inaugural goal for Korona on 6 August in a commanding 4–1 win over Lech Poznań.

On 14 August 2018, Palanca joined Indian Super League side FC Goa. He returned briefly to Gimnàstic on a short-term contract starting 31 January 2019.

On 20 September 2020, Palanca inked a two-year agreement with Tercera División club Real Avilés Industrial CF. After sustaining a femoral fracture in December, he announced his retirement from professional football in September 2021 at age 33.

Personal life

Palanca's father, Santiago, was a striker for Gimnàstic and held the club record by scoring 48 goals at their Nou Estadi stadium.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Espanyol B	2006–07	Segunda División B	25	6	—		—		25	6
	2007–08	Segunda División B	24	7	—		—		24	7
	Total		49	13	—		—		49	13
Espanyol	2006–07	La Liga	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
Real Madrid B	2008–09	Segunda División B	31	5	—		—		31	5
Real Madrid	2008–09	La Liga	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Castellón (loan)	2009–10	Segunda División	36	3	0	0	—		36	3
Elche	2010–11	Segunda División	30	4	2	0	1	0	33	4
	2011–12	Segunda División	25	1	2	1	—		27	2
	2012–13	Segunda División	16	0	1	0	—		17	0
	Total		71	5	5	1	1	0	77	6
Numancia	2013–14	Segunda División	33	3	1	0	—		34	3
	2014–15	Segunda División	17	2	0	0	—		17	2
	Total		50	5	1	0	—		51	5
Adelaide United	2014–15	A-League	14	1	0	0	—		14	1
Gimnàstic	2015–16	Segunda División	19	1	1	2	—		20	3
Korona Kielce	2016–17	Ekstraklasa	33	6	1	0	—		34	6
Anorthosis	2017-18	Cypriot First Division	23	3	0	0	—		23	3
Goa	2018-19	Indian Super League	7	3	0	0	—		7	3
Gimnàstic	2018-19	Segunda División	8	0	0	0	—		8	0
Andorra	2019-20	Segunda División B	12	0	1	0	—		13	0
Avilés	2020-21	Tercera División	6	0	0	0	—		6	0
Career total			363	45	9	3	1	0	373	48