Antonio Luna (footballer)


Antonio Manuel Luna Rodríguez is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Levante UD as a left back.
Formed at Sevilla, he represented four other clubs in La Liga as well as having brief stints in England and Italy.

Club career

Sevilla

Born in Son Servera, Majorca, Luna finished his youth career in Andalusia with Sevilla FC, making his senior debut with the reserve side in Segunda División B. On 15 and 19 May 2010, he appeared in his first two official games with the first team, and both were decisive ones: in the first he played the full 90 minutes as his team won 3–2 away against UD Almería in the last round, finally edging RCD Mallorca for the last qualification position for the UEFA Champions League. The second was a 2–0 triumph over Atlético Madrid in the final of the Copa del Rey, again playing the full match.
On 19 January 2011, Luna was loaned to neighbouring Almería until the end of the campaign. He was regularly utilised, as the club suffered top flight relegation after a four-year stay.
After returning to Sevilla, Luna played 14 league matches in 2011–12, his first full season. He scored his first goal as a professional in a 1–2 away defeat on 29 January 2012 against Málaga CF, playing as a left midfielder.
On 25 November 2012, Luna was sent off despite being an unused substitute in a 0–4 loss at Atlético Madrid, in which his teammates Federico Fazio and Ivan Rakitić were also dismissed. He spent the second half of the 2012–13 season on loan to Mallorca in his native Balearic Islands, eventually meeting the same fate as with Almería.

Aston Villa

On 20 June 2013, Aston Villa announced the signing of Luna on a three-year deal. He started and scored on his Premier League debut with the club, a 3–1 win at Arsenal on 17 August.
On 5 August 2014, Luna was loaned to Serie A club Hellas Verona F.C. in a season-long loan. In February of the following year, having not made a single appearance, he was loaned to Spezia Calcio in Serie B for the second half of the campaign. In only his second match for his new team, he was sent off in a 3–2 home win over Modena FC.

Eibar

On 9 July 2015, Luna signed a two-year deal with SD Eibar after terminating his contract with Aston Villa. He made his debut for the Basques on 24 August, assisting goals by Adrián and Gonzalo Escalante as they began the new top flight season with a 3–1 win at Granada CF.
In October 2016, Luna and teammate Sergi Enrich apologised when a sex tape involving them and a woman went viral on the Internet. He totalled 46 appearances in his two seasons at the club, scoring in a 3–2 win at Sporting de Gijón the following 15 January.

Levante

On 11 June 2017, Luna signed a four-year contract with newly promoted side Levante UD. On 29 August 2019, he was loaned to Segunda División's Rayo Vallecano for one year.

In popular culture

Aston Villa fans nicknamed Luna 'Tony Moon', a direct translation of his name from Spanish into English. Manager Paul Lambert admitted that he did not understand the nickname.
Luna was referenced in the 19th Jack Reacher novel Personal by Lee Child, an Aston Villa fan. There, character Casey Nice described him as a friend of hers, adding "I call him Tony Moon".

Honours

Sevilla