Onel Hernández

Location: Norwich, England

The man from Cuba grew up in Güterlosh, Germany, where he was introduced to football by his German stepfather to help him integrate better into society. Now he is a professional footballer plying his trade with English club Norwich City. (Image: Instagram)

Born in Morón, Cuba, he moved to Germany with his family at the age of six. The youngster had a nomadic youth career, learning at his traits at a number of clubs including: TuS Westfalia Neuenkirchen, FC Güterlosh 2000, Rot Weiss Ahlen and Arminia Bielefeld. He completed his development with the later and went onto play for their first-team; on 1 October 2010, the Cuban born footballer made his professional debut in Bundesliga 2 for Arminia Bielefeld against SC Paderborn 07. Between 2012-2016 he spent his career playing for Werder Bremen U23 and Woflsburg U23 sides in Regionalliga Nord, learning his craft, building his confidence and developing as a footballer. A 100 appearances, 11 goals and 31 assists later, the winger once again moved to Bundesliga 2 and joined Eintracht Braunschweig. His exploits in the German second-division with Die Löwen would peak the interest of English club Norwich City; and in January 2018, The Canaries moved to secure the services of the Cuban winger. The wide-man made 40 league appearances, and chipped in with 18 goals and assists to aid Norwich City’s table topping 2018/19 EFL Championship campaign. On 9 August 2019, he became the first Cuban born player to play in the Premier League, featuring in the second half of Norwich City’s 4-1 loss against Liverpool FC.