Oriol Romeu

Oriol Romeu Vidal (Spanish pronunciation: [oˈɾjol roˈmew]; born 24 September 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Southampton.

Romeu began his career at Barcelona, playing mainly in its reserves. In 2011, he joined Chelsea for €5 million, spending time on loan at Valencia and VfB Stuttgart before moving to Southampton four years later.

Romeu represented Spain up to under-21 level, and was part of their under-17 team which won the 2008 European Championship. He also played for the country at the 2012 Olympics.

Club Career

Barcelona

Born in Ulldecona, Tarragona, Catalonia, Romeu started his career at local CF Ulldecona. He arrived in FC Barcelona's youth academy in 2004, from neighbours RCD Espanyol, and progressed through the club's youth academy until breaking into the reserve team. Manager Pep Guardiola handed him his first appearance for the senior side in a friendly against Kuwaiti team Kazma Sporting Club, and subsequently included him in the squad for the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup which took place in Abu Dhabi.

Romeu was included in the nineteen-man Barcelona squad on 13 August 2010, due to the need to rest some of Barcelona's Spanish internationals. He was to face Sevilla in the first leg of the season's Spanish Supercup. He made his official competitive debut in that game, playing the full ninety minutes in the 1–3 away loss.

Romeu made his first La Liga appearance on 15 May 2011, playing the last ten minutes of a 0–0 home draw against Deportivo de La Coruna in the place of another club youth graduate, Jonathan dos Santos.

Chelsea

Reports began to link Romeu with a move to Chelsea on 22 July 2011. The following day he agreed terms for his transfer, pending a medical or personal terms as he was away on international duty at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. On 4 August the English club announced the completion of the transfer, with the player signing a

This page also has a version in other languages :  Ориоль Ромеу (russian)