David Lopez spoke with club media after he made his senior debut for the club against Valencia CF having graduated from our academy system. Find out what he had to say below:
Debut in the First Division with the team of your life. What did it feel like?
"It's a dream come true. Whenever a kid comes here, to the Ciudad Deportiva, he always dreams of making his debut with the first team. And if it's in the First Division, so much the better. And the fact that I've been able to fulfill it is a source of pride."
When did you find out you were going to be a starter?
"I found out almost in the pre-match talk. I knew there was that possibility, but 100% I didn't know at any time, except for the pre-match talk."
When did you arrive at the club?
"I arrived when I was 10/11 years old, in second year alevín. That was my first season here."
So you owe all your training to the club, don't you?
"Yes, I am extremely grateful to the club, both me and my brother, who came together in second year fry and we were together for ten seasons, until he left this year. But it is a dream that I have fulfilled, but just as I have fulfilled it, so has my brother. Mallorca has given me everything. I came here with a dream. They have helped me grow as a person and as a player. So I am very grateful to them."
What has the club given you, apart from training?
"The club helps you, above all, by transmitting values as a person and an athlete. It helps you to know how to compete, to know how to win, to know how to lose. To always be humble, to have a philosophy of working day by day. And, above all, I think that on a soccer level he works very well with the boys, but also on a personal level."
Do you consider yourself an example for other youth players at the club?
"Let's see, ‘example’ for me is a bit of a big word, to say the least. But at the end of the day it's like when I was in the younger groups... and I saw people making their debuts in the first team and I said: ‘One day I'd like to be like that person, fulfill that dream’. It's true that people from the youth team, seeing me, Marc, Jan etc make their debuts, may have that thought too."