1046 Jon Toral

Biography

Jon Toral was a tall and elegant midfielder who joined the Tigers in August 2017 from Premier League side Arsenal, having previously impressed when netting a spectacular long shot against the Tigers while on loan at Birmingham City.  Toral took a few months to find his feet at the KCOM Stadium and his positive influence grew as the Tigers eased away from the relegation zone under the management of Nigel Adkins.  He spent much of 2018/19 season injured or out of favour, making only sporadic substitute appearances while still showing glimpses of his impressive class. He returned to the first team in October 2019 and was quickly the centre of focus for two wins as his running and vision improved the whole team.  Injury again hampered his first team progress and he returned to a first team in February 2020 that was struggling for wins. He played a peripheral role after the COVID-19 lockdown as the Tigers tumbled out of the Championship and he left the club at the end of the elongated 2019/20 season. Toral was a very decent player, but ultimately 30 starts in three seasons was not a great return for City’s investment.

Jon-Miquel Toral Harper was born in Reus, the Catalonian birthplace of architect Antonio Gaudi, to a Spanish father and English mother. From the age of eight he was part of the academy system at Spanish giants Barcelona. In July 2011 at the age of sixteen he and fellow academy graduate Hector Bellerin switched from Barcelona to Premier League side Arsenal – by the end of 2013 Bellerin was playing Championship football on loan at Watford while Toral’s development took a little longer as he played and scored regularly for the Gunners’ under-21 side.

In August 2014 Toral joined Championship side Brentford on a season long loan. He made his senior debut for the Bees in an August 2014 League Cup tie against Fulham and was used as a bench option for the first two months of the 2014/15 season. He scored his first senior goal in October 2014 against Bolton Wanderers and became a first team starter as Brentford rose into the play-off places with a five match win streak in November 2014. In February 2015 Toral scored a hattrick against Blackpool and in May 2015 he was a substitute when Brentford lost to Middlesbrough in the Championship play-offs semi-final. He scored six goals in 37 appearances for Brentford.

In July 2015 he began a second season-long loan in the Championship, this time joining Birmingham City. Toral went straight into the Blues first team and scored on his August 2015 debut against Reading, netting a second goal in the next league game. In March 2016 he smote a twenty five yard shot past Allan McGregor, a strike that evidently left an impression on the Tigers’ scouting team. Jon’s season ended in April 2016 with an achilles injury, he scored eight goals for the Blues in 38 appearances.

The 2016/17 season saw Toral enjoy two loan spells, between July 2016 and January 2017 he played for Spanish La Liga side Granada CF but made only 6 appearances and scored once in Copa del Rey tie against CA Osasuna. In January 2017 he briefly returned to Arsenal before joining Scottish Premiership side Glasgow Rangers on a half-season loan. He made his Rangers debut in a January 2017 Scottish Cup tie against Motherwell and scored three goals in 15 appearances during the remainder of the season. Toral left Arsenal in August 2017 having never made a senior appearance for the Gunners.

In August 2020 Toral left Hull City and signed for Birmingham City, returning to the club he spent the 2015/16 season with. In his first season at St Andrews Jon made only 18 appearances and scored two goals as injuries again affected his game time and he was released by Birmingham City in May 2021. Two months later in July 2021 he joined Greek Super League side OFI Crete – Toral scored three goals in his first season with the Heraklion-based club and was retained for the 2022/23 season, teaming up with ex-Tigers colleague Nouha Dicko and notching eight times. His third season at OFI Crete yielded a further four goals including an important brace of goals in an April 2024 play-off group match against Volos NPS, which took his tally for the club to fifteen goals in 78 appearances.

In July 2024 Toral joined Indian Super League side Mumbai City, in a season and a half in India Toral scored one goal in 21 appearances. In January 2026 he joined Java-based Indonesian Super League side Persik Kediri, making his debut that month against Malut United and scoring his first goal in February 2026 against Dewa United – he ended the 2025/26 season with three goals in 13 appearances.

Toral’s parentage means he was eligible to play for both England and Spain, in January 2012 while at Arsenal he was an unused substitute for a match between Spain and Italy Under-17s, but received no further call-ups.

Details

Nationality: Spain
Date/Place of Birth: 5 February 1995, Reus (Spain)
Hull City First Game: 25 August 2017, Bolton Wanderers H (Championship), 22 years, 204 days old
Hull City Final Game: 22 July 2020, Cardiff City A (Championship), 25 years, 168 days old

Clubs

Arsenal (2011-2017), Brentford (2014-2015, loan), Birmingham City (2015-2016, loan), Granada CF (2016-2017, loan), Glasgow Rangers (2017, loan), Hull City (2017-2020), Birmingham City (2020-2021), OFI Crete (2021-2024), Mumbai City (2024-2026), Persik Kediri (2026-current)

Hull City Record

Career: 56 apps, 4 goals