Here are the top 5 things you didnt know about Chelsea-Girona Midfield target Oriol Romeu
In the wake of time that Chelsea is looking for every option that they can get to sign as many good players as possible, they have been linked with Girona midfielder Oriol Romeu and here is that you never knew about him.
Here are 5 top things about this man…
Romeu and teammate Aleix García hail from the same town of 6,000 people
By joining Girona FC in the summer of 2022, Romeu made a return to his home region of Catalonia. He was born and grew up in a small town named Ulldecona, which has a population of just 6,000 people.
Incredibly, despite the town’s tiny population, they boast two Girona FC players; fellow midfielder Aleix García also hails from Ulldecona.
His previous experience in LaLiga Santander
Romeu has spent much of his career abroad, representing Chelsea and Southampton in England, as well as Stuttgart in Germany. But it was in his native Spain that Romeu took his first steps in senior football.
After coming through the RCD Espanyol academy and then FC Barcelona’s La Masia, he played for Luis Enrique’s impressive Barcelona B side, before making two appearances with Pep Guardiola’s senior Barça team, including his LaLiga Santander debut, vs Deportivo de la Coruña in 2011.
He’d later spend the 2013/14 season on loan with Valencia CF, making another 13 appearances in Spain’s top division with Los Che.
He is an Olympian
Even if he has never featured for the Spanish national team at senior level, Romeu was such a hot prospect as a teenager that he played for all the various Spanish youth categories.
The midfielder was then part of the Spain squad that competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, featuring in the matches against Japan and Morocco.
Juan Mata and a love of literature
In his free time, Romeu reads a lot, but this wasn’t always the case.
It was when he coincided with fellow Spanish midfielder Juan Mata at Chelsea that Romeu really started to take an interest in literature, with the World Cup winner advising Romeu to pick up as many books as possible. He took that to heart and the Girona FC man now shares his favourite book recommendations via his website, while he has written a book of his own titled ‘The season of my life’, in which he chronicles his 2020/21 campaign with Southampton.
His appearance in Girona for Catalonia
Even before joining Girona FC in the summer of 2022, Romeu had actually already played a home game at the Estadi Montilivi.
That was in March of 2019, when the midfielder turned out for the Catalonia team in a friendly match against Venezuela, which the Catalans won 2-1 in front of 14,000 fans.
Now, Romeu has become one of those fans’ favourite players in this season’s fun Girona FC side.
