Fran Villalba

Villalba joined Almería on 27 January 2020 on loan to the end of the 2019–20 Segunda División season; the deal included an option to purchase.

On 7 August 2019, Villalba signed a three-year contract with Birmingham City of the English Championship. He made his debut three days later in the starting eleven for a 1–1 draw with Bristol City, came close to scoring from distance, and was the Birmingham Mail's man of the match. Although he did not readily adapt to the quicker, more physical style of the English game, he was part of the starting eleven for the first four months of the season, apart from a spell out with a groin injury. He scored his first goal in a young Birmingham team that beat Middlesbrough 2–1 on 6 October – another shot was "somehow kept out ... at point blank range" – but according to the Mail, "what earned him his 76th-minute standing ovation was the tireless pressing and harrying that characterised his second period." However, with considerable competition in attacking midfield from Dan Crowley and new arrival Jérémie Bela as well as the emergence of the 16-year-old Jude Bellingham, Villalba dropped down the pecking order and out of the matchday squad. The last of his 17 appearances came in a 3–0 defeat away to Hull City on 21 December.

On 12 July 2018 he joined Segunda División club Numancia on a season-long loan. Villalba scored his first professional goal on 16 September 2018, the equaliser in a 1–1 draw away to Sporting de Gijón, and later in the match was sent off for the first time ever.

On 1 February 2015, aged only 16, Villalba made his senior debut with Valencia's reserve team, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–2 away loss against CD Olímpic de Xàtiva in the Segunda División B championship. He appeared in two further matches during the campaign, both from the bench.

On 26 June 2015 Villalba was called up to the main squad by manager Nuno Espírito Santo for the pre-season. He made his professional debut on 16 December, as a half-time substitute for André Gomes in a 2–0 Copa del Rey home win against Barakaldo. Villalba made his La Liga debut on 31 December 2015, coming on in the 84th minute of a 1–0 away loss against Villarreal.

Born in the neighbourhood of El Cabanyal, Valencia, Villalba was a Valencia CF youth graduate. On 1 August 2014, after being linked to Liverpool, he signed a new four-year deal with Los Che.

Francisco José Villalba Rodrigo (born 11 May 1998) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Segunda División club Almería, on loan from Birmingham City of the English Championship. He began his career with Valencia and spent a season on loan to Numancia before coming to England in 2019. In international football, he has represented Spain from under-16 to under-19 level.