Jesús Owono went away a backup and came home a starter, at least on paper. A full season as FC Andorra's main goalkeeper in the Segunda División gave him something he had never really had at Alavés: uninterrupted minutes. Now he is back in Vitoria, 25 years old, tied to the club until June 2029, and facing the question every second choice keeper eventually has to answer. Is he good enough to be the first name on the team sheet?
It is a fair question, and not an easy one. Owono is shorter than most La Liga keepers, his top flight experience is thin, and his market value has barely moved in years. He is also the most experienced international in Equatorial Guinea's goal and the first player born in that country to appear in Spain's top division. Both things are true at once.
The Essentials
| Profile | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jesús Lázaro Owono Ngua Akeng |
| Born | 1 March 2001, Bata, Equatorial Guinea |
| Age | 25 |
| Nationality | Equatoguinean and Spanish (represents Equatorial Guinea) |
| Height and weight | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in), around 73 kg |
| Position | Goalkeeper, comfortable with both feet |
| Shirt number | 13 |
| Club | Deportivo Alavés, contract to June 2029 |
| Last loan | FC Andorra, 2025/26 season |
| Youth clubs | Antiguoko, Real Sociedad, Alavés |
| Senior clubs | San Ignacio, Alavés B, Deportivo Alavés, FC Andorra |
| International debut | 25 March 2019 against Saudi Arabia |
| Estimated net worth | $1.5 million to $2.5 million (Icon Polls estimate) |
| Estimated market value | €800,000 to €900,000 |
| Estimated weekly wage | Close to €4,800 |
Bata to the Basque Country
Owono was born in Bata, but his football education is entirely Basque. His family moved to northern Spain when he was eight, and he started out at Antiguoko, the San Sebastián youth club with a long record of feeding talent into professional academies. From there he spent four years in the Real Sociedad system, from 2013 to 2017.
He never reached their first team. That is normal for teenage keepers, who mature late and need patience more than most. Alavés picked him up on a free at 16, and the slow climb began: senior minutes at San Ignacio, then Alavés B, then a first team call in the winter of 2022.
A Debut That Made History
On 2 January 2022, aged 20, Owono played his first La Liga match for Alavés. With it he became the first Equatorial Guinea international born in the country to play in the Spanish top flight. For a nation whose players are often raised and developed abroad, that detail carries real weight.
What followed was less dramatic. Before his loan, he had made 20 official appearances for Alavés, only 11 of them in La Liga. Years as a rotation option do little for a goalkeeper's rhythm, and even less for his price tag.
Six Feet in a League of Giants
Official club and league records list him at 1.83 m. You will sometimes see 1.86 m quoted, but 1.83 m is the documented number. Most La Liga keepers now sit somewhere between 1.86 m and 1.92 m, so Owono gives up reach to almost everyone he competes with.
He makes up for it in other ways. Positioning, quick feet and reactions carry a lot of his game, and his close range shot stopping is a genuine strength. So is his distribution: he uses both feet, which matters for a keeper expected to start moves rather than just clear lines. The weaker areas are longer range efforts and command of his box, which is exactly where a shorter keeper tends to get found out.
What Andorra Gave Him
The 2025/26 loan was the busiest season of his career. In 20 league games he faced 76 shots, conceded 22 goals and finished with a save percentage a little over 71 percent. That works out at 1.13 goals conceded per 90 minutes, a respectable return for a side battling in the middle of a hard division.
The raw numbers matter less than the run behind them. At one stage he started 30 consecutive matches across all competitions, and Andorra put together a long unbeaten stretch away from home late in the campaign. For a keeper who had spent years waiting, that steadiness was the point of the whole exercise.
44 Caps and Two Africa Cups
International football has given Owono the high pressure experience his club career has not. He was first called up at 17, in September 2018, and debuted on 25 March 2019, playing the second half of a 3 to 2 friendly defeat to Saudi Arabia.
He has been Nzalang Nacional's first choice for most of the past four years. He was in the squad at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, where Equatorial Guinea reached the last 16, and again at the 2025 edition in Morocco, drawn in a tough group with Algeria, Burkina Faso and Sudan. By the end of 2025 he had 44 senior caps, a remarkable total for someone his age.
Wages, Value and a Contract to 2029
Icon Polls estimates Jesús Owono's net worth in 2026 at between $1.5 million and $2.5 million. No official figure exists, so treat that as a reasoned range rather than a fact. It is built from an estimated wage of around €4,800 a week (roughly €250,000 a year before tax), several years of senior contracts, national team payments, bonuses from two Africa Cup campaigns and some modest regional endorsement work.
Claims online that he is worth eight or ten million dollars do not fit anything in his contract history. That is good money, but it is not starter money at a big club.
His market value has hovered around €800,000 to €900,000 for some time: his age helps, his lack of top flight minutes holds it back. Every move of his career has been fee free, from the 2017 arrival to the Andorra loan in July 2025 and his return at the end of June 2026. The more telling detail is the extension he signed in July 2025, running to June 2029. Clubs do not hand four year deals to keepers they plan to release. Icon Polls reads it as Alavés protecting an asset, and puts a realistic transfer band at €1 million to €2 million for now.
The Season That Decides It
Our view: Owono has done what a loan is supposed to do. He proved he can carry a starting job for a full season without fading. What he has not yet shown is that he can do it in La Liga, against strikers who punish a keeper who gives up height and hesitates off his line. A strong run in the top flight would move his value quickly. Another year on the bench would leave him as a sensible rotation signing for a mid table side rather than anyone's priority target.
Think he belongs among the greats one day, or just enjoy arguing about who already does? Have your say in our vote for the best football players of all time.
Three Quick Ones
Is Jesús Owono married?
There is no public record of a wife, partner or children. He keeps his private life private and stays away from personal posts on social media.
Has he had serious injuries?
Nothing career threatening. His longest absence was a knee problem from February to March 2025.
Why does he wear 13?
It is the traditional goalkeeper number in Spanish football, and Owono has worn it at Alavés.
