Pacha

Vigo produced Pelayo Fernández Balboa, and it was another Spanish academy, La Masia, that shaped him. He arrived at Barcelona in 2019 after coming through CD Quirinal and Sporting Gijón's Mareo academy, and by the time he left he had made 42 appearances for Barcelona B, scoring once, across two seasons in the Catalan side's second team.

Rayo Vallecano signed the centre-back as a free agent in the summer of 2024, handing him a contract running to 2028 and the number 22 shirt. His first-team debut in La Liga came against Deportivo Alavés, a milestone that arrived roughly nine months after he joined the club, reflecting a period spent working his way toward regular involvement rather than an immediate breakthrough.

This season he has moved on loan to Cádiz CF, where he will spend the 2025/2026 campaign looking to establish himself with regular first-team minutes away from Vallecas.

At 193cm, Fernández Balboa is a physically imposing presence at the back, built in the mould of a traditional stopper. His path has been a steady academy progression — Sporting Gijón, then Barcelona, then Rayo Vallecano — rather than one defined by a single dramatic transfer or moment, with his development now continuing through the loan spell in Cádiz.