On 6 December 2015, at the O Vao stadium, Santi Comesaña scored all three goals that swung Coruxo FC’s 5-1 win over SD Compostela in Segunda División B. It was his first senior season, and that hat-trick put him in the shop window: seven months later Rayo Vallecano signed him. Santiago Comesaña Veiga was born in Vigo on 5 October 1996. A central midfielder, he has played for Villarreal CF since 2023, after seven seasons with the Vallecas club.
Comesaña came through the youth ranks of ED Val Miñor, a club from the Pontevedra district of the same name, rather than the academies of Galicia’s bigger clubs. In the summer of 2015 he went on trial at Coruxo, who were impressed enough to sign him on 9 July. His debut came on 22 August 2015 away to Atlético Astorga, and he marked it with a goal, scoring his side’s second in a 3-2 win. Over the 2015-16 campaign he made 37 appearances and scored 8 goals, an unusual return for a midfielder in the Galician group of the Spanish third tier. It was his only season with the Vigo club.
On 16 July 2016 he joined Rayo Vallecano, freshly relegated to the Spanish second division. He made his debut on 28 August 2016 at Vallecas, replacing Adri Embarba in the second half of a 0-0 draw with Real Valladolid. His first professional goal came on 1 April 2017, the opener in a 3-1 win away to Girona. He finished that first season with 18 appearances and 2 goals. In 2017-18 he became a regular in midfield, playing 33 league matches and scoring twice as Rayo were crowned Segunda División champions and promoted.
La Liga, relegation and a play-off return (2018-2021)
His top-flight debut came on 25 August 2018, starting in a 1-0 defeat to Atlético Madrid. On 20 January 2019 he scored his first La Liga goal, opening the scoring against Real Sociedad at Vallecas in a game that finished 2-2. He played 25 matches that season, but Rayo went down in May 2019. Back in the second division, he made 21 appearances with one goal in 2019-20 and 43 appearances with 3 goals in 2020-21, a campaign that ended in the promotion play-offs, where he played four matches. He started both legs of the final against Girona: Rayo lost 2-1 at home and then won 2-0 at Montilivi on 20 June 2021, a result that took them back to La Liga.
Established in the top flight with Rayo (2021-2023)
His last two seasons at Vallecas were his most consistent in La Liga. In 2021-22 he played 41 matches across the league and the Copa del Rey, scoring once, and in 2022-23 he reached 38 appearances and 3 goals. He left the club with 219 competitive appearances and 13 goals over seven seasons, four of them in the second tier and three in the top flight. Of those matches, 201 came in the league.
Villarreal (since 2023)
On 29 June 2023 Villarreal, also a top-flight side, announced his signing. In 2023-24 he made 37 appearances and scored 3 goals: 27 in the league, 3 in the Copa del Rey and 7 in the Europa League, his first taste of European football. In 2024-25 he featured in 35 league matches and scored 4 goals. The following campaign brought his Champions League debut, and he played 8 matches in that competition in 2025-26, alongside 34 league appearances.
Honours
His major honour is the Segunda División title of the 2017-18 season, won with Rayo Vallecano. With the same club he also earned promotion to La Liga through the play-offs in June 2021, beating Girona over two legs in the final.
VillarrealMidfielderMarket value €6.7M