Billy Vladimir Arce Mina (born 12 July 1998) is an Ecuadorian footballer who plays either as a left winger or a forward for Atletico Nacional.
Born in Esmeraldas, Arce finished his formation with Independiente del Valle, after playing for Emelec, CSCD Fedeguayas and CSCD La Paz.[1] He made his first-team debut for the former on 5 February 2017, starting and scoring the game's only through a penalty kick in a home defeat of Deportivo Cuenca.[2]
On 25 November 2017, Arce scored a brace in a 4–1 home routing of Guayaquil City.[3] He finished his first senior campaign with 12 goals in 39 appearances, being the club's second-best goalscorer behind Michael Estrada.
On 3 August 2018, Independiente del Valle confirmed Arce's transfer to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.[4] His new club officially announced the deal four days later,[5] on a reported four-year contract.[6]
On the same day for being announced at the English club, Arce penned a loan move to Segunda División club Extremadura UD.[7] He only featured in four matches overall for the club, and left in December after "having trouble adapting to the league".[8]
On 8 January 2019, after being rarely used, Arce returned to his home country after agreeing a loan move to Emelec.[9] In May, he was left out of several matches of the club after being photographed in a party,[10] being subsequently demoted to the reserve squad before leaving.[11]
After being rarely used, Arce moved to fellow league team Barcelona SC also on loan on 23 July 2019.[12] He spent the month of October away from trainings after being arrested, only returning on the 25th.[13]
On 24 January 2020, Arce was announced at LDU Quito.[14] Regularly used as a substitute, his loan was renewed for a further year on 29 January 2021.[15]
On 31 January 2022, Brighton announced the return of Arce, and initially assigned him to the under-23 squad.[16] On 1 March, the club reached an agreement with Arce to terminate his contract;[17] he left the club without making a senior appearance for them.
On 8 March 2022, Arce returned to his first club Independiente del Valle on a deal until the end of the year.[18] He left the club in July, after just 17 matches.[19]
On 20 July 2022, Arce was announced at Uruguayan Primera División side Peñarol on a short-term contract.[20] He only featured in three matches, and was deemed surplus to requirements in September.[21]
On 6 January 2023, Arce switched teams and countries again, after signing for Colombian Categoría Primera A side Deportivo Pasto.[22] Despite being regularly used, he left the side in June.[23]
On 17 June 2023, Arce was presented at Once Caldas.[24] He became an undisputed starter for the side,[25] but departed the club roughly one year later.[26]
On 31 July 2024, free agent Arce signed a contract with Campeonato Brasileiro Série B side Santos until December 2025.[27] He made his debut for the club on 17 August, replacing Serginho in a 1–0 home loss to Avaí.[28]
On 20 December 2024, after just two matches and 35 minutes of action, Arce's contract with Santos was rescinded.[29]
In October 2019, Arce was jailed for twenty days having been arrested for drink-driving.[30][31][32]
Santos