Dani Fernández (footballer, born 2008)

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fernández and the second or maternal family name is Melián.
Dani Fernández
Personal information
Full name Daniel Fernández Melián
Date of birth (2008-01-26) 26 January 2008 (age 16)
Place of birth San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Tenerife
Number 32
Youth career
Tenerife
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024– Tenerife 5 (1)
2024– Tenerife B 7 (1)
International career‡
2023– Spain U16 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 4 March 2024

Daniel "Dani" Fernández Melián (born 28 January 2008) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a midfielder for CD Tenerife.

Club career

Born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Fernández was a CD Tenerife youth graduate. In April 2024, he agreed to a professional contract with the club, after spending a period separated from the Cadete squad prior to the renewal.[1]

Before even having appeared with the reserves, Fernández began training with the main squad in May 2024.[2] After being an unused substitute in a 1–1 away draw against Burgos CF, he made his senior – and professional – debut on 2 June, replacing Enric Gallego in a 2–1 Segunda División home win over Real Valladolid;[3] aged 16 years and 128 days, he became the second-youngest to debut with the club, only behind Víctor Correa in 1984.[4]

Fernández scored his first professional goal on 5 October 2024, netting the opener in a 2–0 home win over FC Cartagena; aged 16 years and 249 days, he became the youngest goalscorer of the club's history.[5]

International career

On 18 October 2023, Fernández was called up to the Spain national under-16 team for two friendlies against Romania.[6]

References

  1. ^ "El CD Tenerife ata a una de las grandes joyas de su cantera" [CD Tenerife tie up one of the biggest pearls of their youth setup] (in Spanish). El Día. 20 April 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Premio para Dani Fernández y Manu Montero: primer entrenamiento con los mayores" [Reward to Dani Fernández and Manu Montero: first training with the main squad] (in Spanish). El Día. 4 May 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Histórico debut de Dani Fernández" [Historical debut of Dani Fernández] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Dani Fernández, segundo jugador más joven en debutar con el CD Tenerife" [Dani Fernández, second-youngest to debut with CD Tenerife] (in Spanish). CD Tenerife. 6 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  5. ^ "'Baby' gol: Dani Fernández rompe moldes con el Tenerife" ['Baby' goal: Dani Fernández breaks the mould with Tenerife] (in Spanish). Marca. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Un canterano del Tenerife, a la selección española" [A Tenerife youth player, to the Spain national team] (in Spanish). DeporPress. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2024.