Mumbai City FC, after a cultural reset of sorts in terms of their squad and playing style, seems to have built a strong squad for the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) title, at least on paper.
Santana will be an additional option in central midfield for Lobera who has plenty of good players in that area such as Ahmed Jahouh, Hugo Boumous, Rowllin Borges and more.
The 30-year-old comes to India after spending the entirety of his career so far in Spain, where he played in various footballing tiers including La Liga. Santana is a defensively inclined midfielder but has a good passing range and is strong on the ball.
Jersey Number: 6
Santana: Las Palmas born and bred
Born in the Canary Islands, Santana joined the youth setup of his home town club Las Palmas in 2008. He progressed through the ranks and made his professional debut with the reserve side in the Tercera Division in the 2010-11 season.
His first-team debut came in February 2011 when he started a 5-0 defeat for Las Palmas against Alcorcon in the Segunda Division. He continued to make sporadic appearances for the first team before being given a definite promotion in June 2012. His first senior goal came against Barcelona B side in March 2013, in a match that ended 3-3. It must be noted that it was his current boss at Mumbai City, Sergio Lobera, who was in charge of Las Palmas from 2012 to 2014.
He suffered an injury in August 2013 and rarely featured in the 2013-14 season. But he returned after recuperating and established himself as an undisputed starter in the 2014-15 season. He made close to 36 appearances as Las Palmas gained promotion to the La Liga after an absence of 13 years.
His top-flight debut was in August 2015 against Atletico Madrid but Las Palmas were edged out 1-0. He made 18 appearances in the league that season and scored one goal. That strike came in March 2016 against none other than Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, Las Palmas lost the match 3-1.
Santana saw a gradual reduction in his playing time in the next couple of seasons, making 10 appearances in 2016-17 and seven in 2017-18. In January 2018, he left Las Palmas and joined Sporting Gijon on a free transfer.
Gijon were plying their trade in the Segunda Division at that time. After spending two and a half seasons there, he opted to join Mumbai City FC on loan.
International football
Santana has not featured for the Spanish national team at any level.
Last stint
Santana's final stint was with Sporting Gijon. He made 31 appearances in all competitions for the club since January 2018. In the 2019-20 season, he made just two appearances in the league and one in the Copa Del Rey.