Manuel Villalobos

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Personal information
Manuel Villalobos
Villalobos' Picture
Full name	Manuel Arturo Villalobos Salvos
Date of birth	October 15, 1980 (1980-10-15) (age 27)
Place of birth	Iquique, Chile
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Universidad de Chile
Number	8
Youth clubs
1990-1997	Colo-Colo
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997-1999 2000 2001 2001 2002 2003 2003 2004 2005-2007 2008-	Colo-Colo Fernández Vial O'Higgins Deportes Naval Deportes Iquique S.C. Dragoes Sandinenses Deportes Arica Deportes Copiapó Ñublense Universidad de Chile	43 6 (4)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 February 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Manuel Arturo Villalobos Salvos (born October 15, 1980 in Iquique, Chile) is a Chilean footballer, who currently plays forward for Universidad de Chile. Villalobos has many different nicknames. He is known as "Villagol" by the supporters of Ñublense, as "Ondugol" by the Chilean press, and "Bullalobos" by the supporters of Universidad de Chile.

[edit] Career

Villalobos joined Colo-Colo's youth squad at the age of ten in 1990. In 1997 he made his professional debut. In 2000 he was loaned to Fernández Vial to gain more playing time and experience. During his time with Fernández Vial he was the second leading scorer of the Primera B (Chilean Second Division). After his impressive season Villalobos was loaned six months to Primera División (Chilean First Division) squad O'Higgins. He then spent the next six months with Deportes Naval. During these two years Villalobos was rejected a chance to return to his original club, Colo-Colo. In 2002 Colo-Colo's coach Jaime Pizarro released him from his contract due to indiscipline.

In 2002 Villalobos signed with Deportes Iquique. The following year Villalobos signed with Portuguese club S.C. Dragoes Sandinenses, where he was primarily used as a reserve. The following two years Villalobos spent in the Chilean Third Division where he scored in abundance. However since he was not owned by any first division club, his accomplishments were not taken serious. During this time he thought hard about leaving football for good.

Ñublense, another third division squad, signed Villalobos. Ñublense quickly gained promotion to the Primera B and Villalobos began to regain his interest in football. At the end of the 2006, with Villalobos as the team's top goal scorer and team captain, Ñublense was promoted to the Primera División. In the 2007 Clausura tournament, Villalobos was the second leading scorer of the competition with 13 goals. His good form led Universidad de Chile (Colo-Colo's rival) to sign him to a 2-year contract at the beginning of 2008. Villalobos has said in interviews he hopes to score many goals against Colo-Colo. In the January pre-season matches, Villalobos scored in almost every game. In the 2008 Apertura tournament Villalobos has scored four goals in the first six games.