Saiz: Samuel Alonso (Samu)

2017-Current (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Central Midfield

Born: Madrid, Spain : 22-01-1991

Debut: Port Vale (h) : 09-08-2017

5' 8 1/2" 10st 10lb (2017)

Born in Madrid, Saiz started his football career with Omega CF at a very early age and arrived in Real Madrid's youth system at the age of eight. In 2008-09 he played one full game for Real's Segundo B side and in the following season he scored five goals as he started fifteen and came on as a substitute seven times. He progressed through the Academy and on 1st July 2009 he moved from the Youth team to the Juvenile A team. Then on 1st July 2010 he moved up to the Real Madrid C Team. In 2010 he was called up to the Spanish Under-Nineteen National Team and he played three times as a substitute but totalled only forty-six minutes playing time. He went on Loan to Sevilla Atletico of Segundo Division B from 31st August 2010 until the end of the 2010-11 season and there he scored three goals from eleven starts and four from the bench. He left Real Madrid on 17th August 2011 and joined UD Melilla, also of the Segundo Division B, on a free transfer. he scored once from seven starts and nine games from the bench. He was no there long as he moved to another Segundo B side, Getafe CF again on a free transfer, on 25th January 2012. He scored twice in ten starts and three from the bench for the Segundo B team and also made his debut for Getafe CF's First team in La Liga coming on as a substitute for Jaime Gavilan with fourteen minutes left on the clock in a 0-3 loss at Atletico Madrid on 1st April 2012. It was to be his only La Liga game for the club but he did consolidate his position in the Segundo B team scoring nine goals in starting twenty-nine and coming on twice as a substitute in the 2012-13 season. On 8th July 2013 he moved, on a free transfer to another Segundo B team, UD Almería, and once more he did not stay long, as he failed to find the net in four starts and five games from the bench and on 31st January 2014 he moved to Atletico Madrid, where he again played at Segundo B level, scoring five times in nine starts and four more from the bench, in the second half of the 2013-14 season. He once more consolidated his position in the new season of 2014-15, scoring eight goals from thirty starts and three as a substitute. On 5th August 2015, he was on the move again on a free transfer to SD Huesca of La Liga 2. He made a fine start with his new club. On 22nd August 2015 he was sent on to replace Darwin Machís in the seventy-second minute and just two minutes later his right foot guided the ball into the net to put SD Huesca back into the game at 1-3 in a home game with Deportivo Alaves. However it was not to be as they did edge closer but still went down 2-3. He made his starting debut seven days later at Albacete Balompie and played eighty-three minutes before giving way to Jose Gaspar. He went on to score three goals from ten starts, nineteen as a substitute and sat unused on six occasions. His other two goals came on 16th March 2016 a minute into injury time, in a 1-2 home defeat by RCD Mallorca after he had come on as a fortieth minute replacement for Juanjo Camacho and 26th May 2016 in a 1-1 home draw with Real Zaragoza, when he got the equaliser in the sixty-first minute, four minutes after replacing Juanjo Camacho. He aso came on once as a substitute in the Copa del Rey and sat once unused in that competition. He had a very strong season for SD Huesca in 2016-17 scoring twelve goals in thirty-nine starts and one game from the bench in La Liga 2, twice coming on as a substitute in the Copa del Rey and also having two starts in the promotion play-offs after SD Huesca had finished sixth. His twelve goals came in twelve different games. They were: One: 28th August 2016 in 1-1 home draw with Gimnastic de Tarragona opened the scoring in the eighty-first minute before giving way to Juanjo Camacho three minutes later. Two: 11th September 2016 in a 3-0 home win over Cordoba CF when he scored the second goal three minutes before half-time before being replaced by Juanjo Camacho in the seventy-eighth minute. Three: 24th September 2016 in a 2-1 away win at Real Valladolid CF when he scored the winner after seventy-eight minutes before making way for Gonzalo Melero with two minutes left on the clock. Four: 29th October 2016 in a 2-1 home win over CF Reus Deportiu when he levelled the scores at 1-1 in the seventy-second minute and played a full game as Huesca got the winner two minutes later. Five: On 10th December 2016 in a 5-2 home win over UCAM Murcia CF when he scored the opener after ten minutes and was later replaced by Alexander González after seventy-two minutes. He played a full game for all the remaining seven goals. Six: On 9th April 2017 he scored the only goal in the away win at CF Reus Deportiu two minutes into injury time at the end of the game. Seven: On 15th April 2017. He opened the scoring from the Penalty spot after fifty-five minutes, but Cadiz equalised four minutes into injury time at the end of the game. Eight: 1st May 2017. He scored the second goal from the penaty spot, four minutes into injury time at the end of the game to give SD Huesca a 2-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano. Nine: 6th May 2017. He reduced the deficit to 1-2 a minute before half time, but Girona FC capitalised on their home advantage and SD Huesca went down 1-3. Ten: 13th May 2017, CD Tenerife held SC Huesca to a 2-2 draw as Saiz equalised for the home team from the penalty spot with three minutes left on the clock. Eleven: 27th May 2017, Saiz scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over CD Lugo when he opened the scoring after just six minutes. Twelve: 10th June 2017. In the final game of the season it was Saiz's final goal for Huesca in the seventy-sixth minute that gave them a 2-1 away win at Levante UD. On 10th July 2017, Leeds paid SD Huesca a fee in the region of £3 million and gave Saiz a four year contract to beat off opposition from Eibar, Alaves and Real Betis to sign the Spanish midfielder. He sat unused on the bench as United opened their League campaign at Bolton Wanderers on 6th August 2017. He made his debut on 9th August 2017 in a 4-1 win over Port Vale at Elland Road in the English League Cup. He scored in the scored in the twelfth, sixtieth and sixty-second minutes to record a hat-trick on debut. His first League match soon followed on 12th August 2017 as Leeds drew 0-0 with Preston North End in the Championship at Elland Road. A week later he opened his Championship goalscoring account in the twelfth minute of a 2-0 win over Sunderland at the stadium of Light. There was another goal in the League Cup three days later as he scored the fourth Leeeds goal in a 5-1 win over Newport County in the seventy- eighth minute to take his to four in two games in that competition. He added four more goals in the Championship, on 12th September 2017 in the 2-0 win over Birmingham City at Elland Road when he opened the scoring in the nineteenth minute as Leeds sat proudly at the top of the Championship table. There were two more at Bristol City on 21st October 2017, when he scored the first two goals, in the fourth and fourteenth minute, in a fine 3-0 win at Ashton Gate.His final goal of the season came on 25th November 2017 in a 2-0 win at Barnsley, when he opened the scoring in the twenty-third minute.His season took a decided downward turn from there onwards as he was shown a red card for an off-the-ball incident in injury time in the 1-2 defeat by Newport County in the F.A. Cup on 7th January 2018. He was suspended for six matches for spitting at an opponent and he never really rose to his previous standards on his return, as both he and Leeds struggled for form in the seconf half of the season. He scored five goals in the Championship from twenty-eight starts, six games as asubstitute and three games unused on the bench. He started one game in the F.A. Cup without scoring and scored five goals in one start and one game from the bench in the League Cup. He was a regular in 2018-19 as Leeds blitzed the opposition as they took an early lead in the Championship race, before dropping back to the pack as the season wore on. He was ever-present in the first dozen games in the Championship, but failed to find the net. He did score the second Leeds goal in the thirty- fifth minute of a 2-1 home win over Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup and had started one and come off the bench in another in that competition.

(To 2017/18)