Martin Valjent

Martin Valjent

Personal information
Full name	Martin Valjent [1]
Date of birth	(1995-12-11) 11 December 1995 (age 28)
Place of birth	Dubnica nad Váhom, Slovakia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Mallorca
Number	24
Youth career
	Dubnica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2013	Dubnica	14	(0)
2013–2017	Ternana	76	(2)
2017–2019	Chievo	0	(0)
2017–2018	→ Ternana (loan)	38	(3)
2018–2019	→ Mallorca (loan)	29	(0)
2019–	Mallorca	163	(1)
International career‡
2013	Slovakia U18
2014	Slovakia U19	14	(2)
2015–2017	Slovakia U21	19	(2)
2018–	Slovakia	12	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 June 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:05, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

Martin Valjent (born 11 December 1995) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Mallorca and the Slovakia national team. ^[2]

Club career

Ternana

At the age of 17, he joined the Italian Serie B club Ternana Calcio in the summer of 2013. ^[3]

Mallorca

In August 2018, Valjent made a move to RCD Mallorca on loan, a prominent team in the Spanish second division. ^[4]

On 26 June 2019 Mallorca made a substantial investment by purchasing Valjent for 1.5 million euros. Despite Mallorca's relegation from the top league to the second division in the 2019/20 season, Valjent's effect was evident, as he scored his first goal for the club in a 2-0 victory against CD Tenerife on 3 October 2020. Valjent made a big statement in February 2021 when he extended his contract with Mallorca until 2025, emphasizing his dedication to the club. ^{[5] [6]}

International career

Valjent was first called up to the Slovakia national team by Ján Kozák sr. for fixtures against Netherlands and Morocco on 31 May and 4 June 2018 respectively. This was done due to Gyömbér and Štetina's injuries. ^[7] Valjent debuted during a match against Morocco in Geneva, replacing Tomáš Hubočan in the 79th minute. ^[8]

Valjent's first competitive start came in a Euro 2020 qualifying fixture against Croatia on 6 September 2019 in Trnava, with Valjent playing as a right-back. Slovakia lost the game 4–0. ^[9] It was that Valjent had a difficult task in defending Dejan Lovren at the side-line, as his preferred post is the one of a centre-back. ^[10] In October, Valjent returned to the national team in a friendly match against Paraguay on his preferred post. His performance was reported on very positively, receiving praise from RTVS' commentary expert Marián Zeman during the farewell game for Martin Škrtel, with whom he starred in the starting XI, as well as Hubočan and Adam Nemec. This game also coincided with a return to Tehelné pole after some ten years and concluded with a 1–1 tie. ^[11]

On 26 August 2020, Valjent was called up by the Slovak senior squad to take part in the two opening matches of the UEFA Nations League against the Czech Republic and Israel. ^[12]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 August 2021 ^[13]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Dubnica	2012–13 [14]	2. liga	14	0	—		—		14	0
Ternana	2013–14	Serie B	6	0	0	0	—		6	0
	2014–15	Serie B	35	0	2	0	—		37	0
	2015–16	Serie B	25	2	2	0	—		27	2
	2016–17	Serie B	33	0	2	0	—		35	0
	Total		76	2	6	0	0	0	82	2
Chievo	2018–19	Serie A	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Ternana (loan)	2017–18	Serie B	38	3	1	0	—		39	3
Mallorca (loan)	2018–19	Segunda División	29	0	2	0	4 [lower-alpha 1]	0	35	0
Mallorca	2019–20	La Liga	36	0	1	0	—		37	0
	2020–21	Segunda División	33	1	1	0	—		34	1
	2021–22	La Liga	3	0	0	0	—		3	0
	Total		101	1	4	0	4	0	109	1
Career total			229	6	11	0	4	0	244	6

1. Appearance(s) in Promotion Playoffs

International

As of match played 10 June 2022 ^[14]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Slovakia	2018	1	0
	2019	2	0
	2020	5	0
	2021	1	0
	2022	3	0
Total		12	0

References

1. "Acta del Partido celebrado el 14 de agosto de 2021, en Palma de Mallorca" [Minutes of the Match held on 14 August 2021, in Palma de Mallorca] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
2. "Player Profile | Martin Valjent". RCD Mallorca.
3. "Seventeen-year-old Valjent moves from Dubnica to Italy" (in Slovak). sportnet.sme.sk. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
4. "El Mallorca logra la cesión de Martin Valjent" (in Spanish). es.besoccer.com. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
5. "Major decision by Martin Valjent! Announced on large billboards in Mallorca". Šport.sk. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
6. Cabot, Ricard (26 June 2019). "El Mallorca ejecuta la opción de compra de Valjent" (in Spanish). Diario de Mallorca. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
7. "Z Kozákovej nominácie vypadli Gyömbér a Štetina, nahradia ich Mihalík a Valjent". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). 25 May 2018.
8. "Valjent v Taliansku vystriedal všetky pozície, ale neočakáva, že nahradí Pekaríka". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). 4 September 2018.
9. "Slovenským futbalistom sa vzdialil postup na ME, s Chorvátmi vysoko prehrali". Sme (in Slovak). Petit Press. 9 September 2019.
10. "Vavro pôsobil ako malý žiak. Azda zápas nevidel tréner Lazia". Sme. Petit Press. 9 September 2019.
11. "Slováci v príprave remizovali s Paraguajom, s reprezentáciou sa rozlúčila trojica hráčov". Sme (in Slovak). Petit Press. 14 October 2019.
12. Forteza, Gabriel (26 August 2020). "Martin Valjent convocado por Eslovaquia para la Nations League" [Martin Valjent called up by the Slovak squad]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 August 2020.
13. Martin Valjent at Soccerway
14. Martin Valjent at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

• Profile at the RCD Mallorca website
• Eurofotbal profile (in Czech)
• Futbalnet profile (in Slovak)
• Martin Valjent at BDFutbol