Jesús Manuel Medina Maldonado (born 30 April 1997) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays for Russian club Spartak Moscow and the Paraguay national team.

Jesús Medina
Medina with CSKA Moscow in 2022
Personal information
Full name Jesús Manuel Medina Maldonado
Date of birth (1997-04-30) 30 April 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Asunción, Paraguay
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger, Attacking Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Spartak Moscow
Number 19
Youth career
2010–2016 Libertad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2017 Libertad 74 (17)
2018–2021 New York City FC 101 (23)
2022–2023 CSKA Moscow 35 (9)
2023– Spartak Moscow 38 (6)
International career
2013 Paraguay U17 15 (7)
2015–2017 Paraguay U20 11 (4)
2017– Paraguay 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 March 2023

Club career

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Medina made his senior debut as a 15-year-old for Libertad on 7 July 2012 in a 1–0 win over Club Rubio Ñu.[2]

On 31 December 2017, it was announced that Medina was signing with Major League Soccer (MLS) side New York City FC ahead of their 2018 season.[3] Medina ultimately played over a hundred MLS games. However, after a disappointing 2021 season, New York City opted to decline their contract option on Medina.[4]

On 17 January 2022, he signed a contract with Russian Premier League (RPL) club CSKA Moscow until the end of the 2024–25 season.[5]

In July 2023, there were reports in the press about the imminent transition of Medina to Spartak Moscow. The fee for the transfer, which led to significant media attention due to CSKA and Spartak being rivals, was estimated to be between 7 million and 7.5 million euros.[6] On 10 July 2023, Spartak formally announced the transfer and Medina signed a three-year contract.[7] On 5 August 2023, Medina scored within the first 40 seconds of making his debut after coming on as a substitute in what was eventually a 1-4 win over Rubin Kazan. This was the quickest goal by any player in their debut in RPL history.

International career

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Paraguay U17 and U20

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Medina was part of the Paraguay U17 squad for the 2013 South American Under-17 Football Championship, scoring four times as the team finished fifth.[8][9][10]

He was also named to the Paraguay U20 squad for the 2015 and 2017 South American Youth Football Championships (CONMEBOL U-20 Championship).[11] In the 2015 tournament, he scored a goal in a 4–2 win over Bolivia U20 in the group stage,[12] and in the 2017 tournament he scored twice in a 3–2 group stage loss to Brazil U20.[13]

Paraguay

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He was named in the senior team's provisional squad for Copa América Centenario, but was cut from the final squad.[14] On 1 July 2017, Medina made his debut for Paraguay in a friendly match against Mexico, coming in as a substitute in the 85th minute.[citation needed]

Personal life

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In February 2019, Medina earned a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[15]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 7 December 2024[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Domestic Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Libertad 2012 Paraguayan Primera División 1 0 1 0
2016 Paraguayan Primera División 38 9 1 0 39 9
2017 Paraguayan Primera División 35 8 13[a] 2 48 10
Total 74 17 0 0 14 2 0 0 88 19
New York City FC 2018 Major League Soccer 28 6 1 0 2[b] 0 31 6
2019 Major League Soccer 18 3 2 1 0 0 20 4
2020 Major League Soccer 22 5 4[c] 0 3[d] 2 29 7
2021 Major League Soccer 33 9 1[e] 0 4[b] 0 38 9
Total 101 23 3 1 5 0 9 0 118 26
CSKA Moscow 2021–22 Russian Premier League 10 1 2 0 12 1
2022–23 Russian Premier League 25 8 8 3 33 11
Total 35 9 10 3 0 0 0 0 45 12
Spartak Moscow 2023–24 Russian Premier League 24 5 10 0 34 5
2024–25 Russian Premier League 14 1 5 2 19 3
Total 38 6 15 2 53 8
Career total 248 55 28 6 19 2 9 2 304 65
  1. ^ 5 appearances and 1 goal in Copa Libertadores and 8 appearances and 1 goal in Copa Sudamerica
  2. ^ a b Appearance(s) in MLS Cup Playoffs
  3. ^ Appearance(s) in CONCACAF Champions League
  4. ^ Two appearances and one goal in MLS is Back Tournament knockout stage, one appearance in MLS Cup Playoffs
  5. ^ Appearance in 2021 Leagues Cup

International

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As of match played 27 March 2023[17]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Paraguay 2017 1 0
2022 7 0
2023 1 0
Total 9 0

Honours

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New York City FC

CSKA Moscow

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Jesús Medina". PFC CSKA Moscow. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  2. ^ "LIBERTAD 1 - 0 RUBIO ÑÚ". uk.Soccerway.com. 7 July 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  3. ^ Booth, Mark (31 December 2017). "#WelcomeJesus: Jesus Medina Joins New York City FC as Third Designated Player". NYC FC. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  4. ^ FC, New York City. "New York City FC Announces Roster Moves For 2022". New York City FC.
  5. ^ "Хесус Медина пополнил состав ПФК ЦСКА" (in Russian). PFC CSKA Moscow. 17 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Хесус Медина близок к переходу в «Спартак» из ЦСКА". sport-express.ru (in Russian). 7 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Хесус Медина — игрок «Спартака»" (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 10 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Ficha del Partido Sudamericano Sub 17 - Fase de grupos | Grupo A - Fecha 1 - PARAGUAY 1 COLOMBIA 1". CONMEBOL (in Spanish). 2 April 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Ficha del Partido Sudamericano Sub 17 - Fase de grupos | Grupo A - Fecha 4 - PARAGUAY 3 ECUADOR 0". CONMEBOL (in Spanish). 8 April 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Ficha del Partido Sudamericano Sub 17 - Sudamericano Sub 17 - Ronda final | Fecha 2 - PARAGUAY 3 PERU 1". CONMEBOL (in Spanish). 17 April 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  11. ^ [1] (in Spanish)
  12. ^ "CONMEBOL - Gamecast - PARAGUAY 4 BOLIVIA 2". CONMEBOL (in Spanish). 14 January 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  13. ^ "CONMEBOL - Gamecast - BRASIL 3 PARAGUAY 2". CONMEBOL (in Spanish). 22 January 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  14. ^ "Paraguay National Team Roster | Copa America". Major League Soccer. 28 May 2016. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  15. ^ "Three New York City FC Players Receive U.S. Green Cards". NYCFC.com. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  16. ^ Jesús Medina at Soccerway
  17. ^ Jesús Medina at National-Football-Teams.com
  18. ^ "2021 MLS Cup". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Суперфинал LIVE. ЦСКА победил «Краснодар» в серии послематчевых пенальти" (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 11 June 2023.
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