Dani Albiar pens a new deal with UD Almería until 2024
The youngster, who arrived at the club in 2013, signs a new contract with the first team for the next 2021/22 season
Dani Albiar and UD Almería have reached a mutual agreement to extend the midfielder’s contract with the club until 2024. In this way, the Academy player will belong to the first team as from the next 2021/22 season, once that the current one within the ‘B’ team comes to an end. He is getting used to the senior team given his daily training routine with the senior team competing in the second-tier in Spanish football known as LaLiga SmartBank.
The Cartagena-born attacking midfielder, arrived at the UD Almeria Academy back in 2013 to join the Under-14s ‘A’ side. From there, after going through different ranks, Fran Fernández called him to make his debut for the second team during the 2017/18 campaign in which, as part of Almeria Under-19s ‘A’, he not only made several appearances in fourth-tier Tercera Division but also helped the team gain promotion, already with Esteban Navarro in the driving seat due to the fact that his predecessor had taken over as the first-team head coach.
Over the course of the 2018/19 season, with Almería ‘B’ competing in the third-tier Segunda Division ‘B’, Dani Albiar was a hard-working member of the squad in which he gained competitive match experience within that league level while being present in the Division de Honor Under-19s.
Albiar was also a key player in the Rojiblanco ‘B’ team during the 2019/20 season and his brilliant performance within group IX of Tercera Division did not go unnoticed by the first- team coaching staff. When former coach José María Gutiérrez was in charge of the squad, the native of Cartagena midfielder made his Copa del Rey debut against Tamaraceite and later on got minutes to play at Juegos Mediterráneos in LaLiga SmartBank fixture against Elche.
Since then, Dani Albiar has been on duty both with the first and second teams. Before concluding last season, José Gomes counted on the 20-year-old midfielder during the second leg of the play-off semi-finals for promotion to the top flight.
Albiar was handed a place in the Rojiblancos squad during the pre-season training camp in Marbella last summer. Thus, although he has played some games for the second team in Tercera, he trains day by day along with LaLiga SmartBank footballers and has also been named in the squad a few times.