Birthday Boys- Inigo Martinez and Rafa Silva

Today’s edition of Birthday Boys sees us have a look at another two qualility players in the form of Inigo Martinez and Rafa Silva. Let’s explore their career’s so far.

Inigo Martinez

Credit: Goal

The defender turns 29 today and has only played at two clubs his whole career spending it in his native country of Spain. Let’s have a look how Martinez’s career has unfolded.

The Spaniard saw himself climb through Sociedad’s ranks and reached destiny in July 2011 as he signed his professional contract the club.

The 11/12 season saw the defender feature 28 times in the Socidead side scoring three goals in that season. The next season saw an increase in playing time for the centre-back, appearing 36 times and scoring four goals in that campaign.

The 13/14 season saw Martinez reach over 40 appearances in a single season for the first time in his career. He appeared 47 times scoring two goals. The next season saw him appear 41 times shwoing consistency in the defenders game and the ability to play over 40 games in a season.

In the 15/16 season, Martinez only appeared 31 times but that may be due to the fact that Sociedad were not playing in any European competition. 40 appearances in the 16/17 season saw the defender score four goals and assist four times.

Martinez appeared 16 times for Sociedad in the 17/18 season before Athletic Bilbao came in for the defender. A £32 million signing on the 30th January 2018 saw the Spaniard end a 9 year relationship with Sociedad.

He’s made 82 appearances for Bilbao in the 2 and a half years he has been at the club and has been a solid defender and looks like he has still a lot more in him and potential may go to a bigger club with his current abilities.

Internationally, he’s played at U20, U21, U23 and at Senior level for Spain. He’s made 11 caps for Spain with his debut in 2013 and he’s only won one trophy which was the European U21 Championships with Spain back in 2013.

Rafa Silva

Credit: Daily Mail

The midfielder turns 27 today and has seen glory in his career so far with Benfica. Let’s have a look at what his career has consisted.

His career started in 2011 as he swapped Alverca U19’s for Feirense U19’s in July that year for an undisclosed fee and broke into the first team after signing his professional contract for the club a year later.

After playing 47 games that season for Feirense scoring 11 goals in the process the midfielder saw Braga interested in signing him and they did in the summer of 2013 for £500,000.

The 13/14 season saw Rafa get decent game time for Braga appearing 32 times scoring eight goals and assisting three times in all competitions as Braga went up into the first tier of Portuguese football.

For the next three years, the midfielder played regularly for the team appearing 95 times in that time scoring 16 goals and assisting on 14 ocassions.

On transfer deadline day of the 16/17 season, Rafa was lured away from Braga and signed for Benfica in the closing stages of the window. £16 million was the fee Benfica paid for the Portuguese international.

The midfielder featured 31 times for the reaminder of that season scoring twice and assisting six times. The next season, Rafa saw limited game time only playing 25 times that campaign but managed to score three times and assist on five ocassions.

The 18/19 season saw the impressive midfielder get into top form. 44 games in all competitions in the whole season saw Rafa score 21 goals and assist three times. In the 19/20 season, he has made 25 appearances so far, but everything has been cut short due to the Coronavirus pandemic. He scored nine goals and assisted four times and if the season continued I am sure he would have scored double figures yet again.

On the international stage, Rafa has featured 17 times for the Portuguese national team and has won the European championships and the UEFA Nations League with Portugal.

He’s also a 2x Liga NOS winner, Portuguese Supercup winner and a 2x Portuguese Cup winner once with Braga and once with Benfica.