# Juan Escobar (Paraguayan footballer)

Juan Marcelo Escobar Chena (Spanish pronunciation:; born 3 July 1995) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as either a centre-back or right-back for Spanish club Castellón and the Paraguay national team. He has also been part of Paraguay's U20 and U23 teams.

## Club career
### Sportivo Luqueño

Born in Luque, Escobar started his career with hometown side Sportivo Luqueño. Promoted to the first team ahead of the 2014 season, he made his first team – and Primera División – debut on 16 February of that year, starting in a 3–0 away loss against Nacional Asunción.
Escobar subsequently became a regular starter for the side, and scored his first professional goal on 4 May 2016, netting his team's second in a 2–2 home draw against Sol de América.

### Cerro Porteño

On 28 December 2017, Escobar agreed to a five-year contract with Cerro Porteño, for a rumoured fee of US$ 1 million. He was a regular starter during his first campaign, playing as a central defender and partnering Marcos Cáceres.

### Cruz Azul

In 2019, he joined Mexican club Cruz Azul for a fee of USD$7 million, surpassing a 20-year transfer fee record in Paraguayan football held by Roque Santa Cruz when he joined Bundesliga team Bayern Munich for USD$6.9 million in 1999.

#### Loan to Toluca

On 31 January 2024, Escobar joined Toluca on a season-long loan.

### Castellón

On 11 February 2025, Castellón announced the signing of Escobar.

## International career

After representing Paraguay at under-20 level in the 2015 South American Youth Football Championship, and under-23 level in the 2015 Pan American Games, Escobar was first called up to the full side on 21 June 2017, for a friendly against Mexico. He made his full international debut on 1 July, starting in a 2–1 loss at the CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of 14 January 2019
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 2014 | Primera División | 21 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | 0 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 2015 | Primera División | 10 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 2016 | Primera División | 25 | 1 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | 2017 | Primera División | 41 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 1 | — | — | 43 | 1 |
| Sportivo Luqueño | Total | Total | 97 | 1 | — | — | 5 | 1 | — | — | 102 | 2 |
| Cerro Porteño | 2018 | Primera División | 34 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 131 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 2 |
* 1 2 3 Appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana
* ↑ Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores

### International

    As of 29 January 2022
Paraguay :
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 5 | 0 |
| 2021 | 5 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 12 | 0 |

## Honours

Cruz Azul
* Liga MX: Guardianes 2021
* Campeón de Campeones: 2021
* Supercopa de la Liga MX: 2022
* Supercopa MX: 2019
* Leagues Cup: 2019
Individual
* Liga MX All-Star: 2021, 2022
* Liga MX Goal of the Tournament: 2021–22