Iván Peñaranda

Born in Santa Eulàlia de Ronçana, Barcelona, Catalonia, Peñaranda was brought up at FC Barcelona, where he played alongside the likes of Gabri, Gerard or Carles Puyol. In the summer of 1998 he and his family moved to the Balearic Islands, and the 17-year-old joined local RCD Mallorca, being assigned to its reserves in the Segunda División where he shared teams with another future Spanish international, Diego Tristán. In September 2000, AC Milan won the race with Real Madrid and signed Peñaranda to an eight-year contract. Barcelona fought for the player's rights as well, so the transfer licence was delayed, and he appeared only for the Primavera, adding two first-team friendlies; midway through that season, he returned to his country and was loaned to Sporting de Gijón B of Segunda División B. Subsequently, Peñaranda began a series of unassuming loans: in quick succession, he represented Granada CF (one appearance, missing a penalty in the 89th minute with the score at 0–0), CE Sabadell FC and Palamós CF. He was brought to the last club as an emerging star by owner/manager Dmitry Pietrman, with the pair quickly feuding, which led to the player's release. Peñaranda would have his only taste of top-flight football in the 2002–03 campaign, with Portugal's C.D. Santa Clara. With the Azores side eventually suffering Primeira Liga relegation, his input consisted of one game – 20 minutes, in a 5–0 away loss against Vitória de Guimarães– and he returned to Spain afterwards, joining…