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Manu García (footballer, born 1998)

Manu García
Personal information
Full name Manuel García Alonso[1]
Date of birth (1998-01-02) 2 January 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Oviedo, Spain
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, winger
Team information
Current team
Aris
Number 6
Youth career
2005–2010 Astur
2010–2014 Sporting Gijón
2014–2016 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2019 Manchester City 1 (0)
2016–2017Alavés (loan) 0 (0)
2017–2019NAC Breda (loan) 53 (3)
2018–2019Toulouse (loan) 31 (0)
2019–2022 Sporting Gijón 75 (4)
2021–2022Alavés (loan) 24 (0)
2022– Aris 47 (9)
International career
2013 Spain U16 2 (0)
2015 Spain U17 1 (0)
2016–2017 Spain U19 5 (1)
2019–2021 Spain U21 10 (2)
2021 Spain 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 June 2021 (UTC)

Manuel "Manu" García Alonso (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmanu ɣaɾˈθi.a];[A] born 2 January 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Super League Greece club Aris.

Club career

Early career

Born in Oviedo, Asturias, García joined Sporting de Gijón's youth setup in 2010, aged 12, from Astur CF.[2] On 2 May 2013, he agreed to a move to Manchester City,[3] which paid 250,000 for his services in January, shortly after his 16th birthday.[4]

Manchester City

García was initially assigned to the club's under-18 squad.[5][6] In May 2015, shortly after being promoted to the under-21s,[7] he was called up to the main squad by manager Manuel Pellegrini ahead of the year's North America pre-season tour.[8]

On 27 May 2015, García made his senior debut for City, coming on as a late substitute for David Silva in a 1–0 friendly away win against Toronto FC.[9] He also took part of the club's pre-season friendlies against Melbourne City, Roma, Vietnam and Stuttgart.

García made his professional debut on 22 September 2015, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute for Sergio Agüero in a 4–1 Football League Cup away routing of Sunderland.[10] He went on to score the fifth goal in the 5–1 victory against Crystal Palace in the same competition.[11] He made his Premier League debut against Aston Villa on 5 March 2016, replacing Yaya Touré.

On 1 December 2016, García signed a contract extension with Manchester City, keeping him with the club until June 2020.[12]

Alavés (loan)

On 16 August 2016, García was loaned to Deportivo Alavés, newly promoted to La Liga, for one year.[13] He only made his debut on 1 December, as a substitute in a 3–0 win over Gimnàstic de Tarragona in the Copa del Rey.[14]

NAC Breda (loan)

On 9 January 2017, García ended his season long loan short with Alavés and spent the rest of the season with Eerste Divisie side NAC Breda.[15] He made his debut immediately, starting in a 2–0 win over Jong FC Utrecht on 16 January.[16] García scored his first goal for the club on 6 February in a 1–0 win over Dordrecht.[17]

García was loaned back to NAC Breda for the 2017–18 season on 30 June 2017.[18]

Toulouse (loan)

García joined Toulouse on loan for the 2018–19 season.[19]

Sporting Gijón

García rejoined his first club Sporting de Gijón on 19 July 2019, signing a five-year contract[20] and becoming the highest transfer in the club's history, as they paid €4 million for his services.[21]

Return to Alavés (loan)

On 8 July 2021, García returned to Alavés, again in the top tier, also on loan.[22]

Aris

On 24 July 2022, García signed a four-year contract with Aris for a club record fee of €4 million.[23][24] He scored his first goal in a 3–0 home win against Asteras Tripoli, on 8 January 2023.[25]

On 21 January 2023, García scored his first career hat-trick in a comfortable 3–0 home win against Volos.[26]

International career

Due to the isolation of some national team players following the positive COVID-19 test of Sergio Busquets, Spain's under-21 squad were called up for the international friendly against Lithuania on 8 June 2021.[27] García made his senior debut in the match as Spain won 4–0.[28]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 23 October 2024[29]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Manchester City 2014–15[30] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015–16[31] 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 4 1
Total 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 4 1
Deportivo Alavés (loan) 2016–17[32] La Liga 0 0 1 0 1 0
NAC Breda (loan) 2016–17 Eerste Divisie 23 2 0 0 23 2
2017–18 Eredivisie 34 1 1 0 35 1
Total 57 3 1 0 58 3
Toulouse (loan) 2018–19[33] Ligue 1 34 1 1 0 35 1
Sporting de Gijón 2019–20[34] Segunda División 40 3 0 0 40 3
2020–21[35] 35 1 1 0 36 1
Total 75 4 1 0 76 4
Alavés (loan) 2020–21 La Liga 24 0 2 0 26 0
Aris 2022–23 Superleague Greece 17 4 2 0 2 0 21 4
2023–24 16 1 5 0 21 1
2024–25 8 3 1 0 9 3
Total 41 8 8 0 0 0 2 0 51 8
Career total 232 7 15 0 2 1 2 0 251 17

International

As of 8 June 2021
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Spain 2021 1 0
Total 1 0

Notes

  1. ^ In isolation, García is pronounced [ɡaɾˈθi.a].

References

  1. ^ "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  2. ^ "La fuga de talentos llega a Mareo" [The leak of talents arrive at Mareo] (in Spanish). La Nueva España. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  3. ^ "El Manchester City se lleva de Mareo al centrocampista cadete Manu García" [Manchester City takes away from Mareo the cadete central midfielder Manu García] (in Spanish). El Comercio. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  4. ^ "El Manchester City pagará en enero 250.000 euros por el cadete Manu García" [Manchester City will pay in January 250.000 euros for cadete Manu García] (in Spanish). El Comercio. 28 December 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Manu García, el sueño de un niño de Oviedo que debuta en el Manchester City" [Manu García, the dream of a kid from Oviedo who debuts with Manchester City] (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Manu García, de Gijón a Manchester" [Manu García, from Gijón to Manchester] (in Spanish). Manchester City's official website. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  7. ^ "El éxito de Manu García, canterano del Sporting" [The success of Manu García, Sporting's youth player] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Manuel Pellegrini promotes nine youth players for Man City tour". ESPN FC. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Toronto 0-1 Manchester City: George Evans earns friendly win".
  10. ^ "Sunderland 1–4 Man City". BBC Sport. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Man City 5 - 1 Crystal Palace". BBC Sport. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Manchester City's Manu Garcia signs two-year contract extension". Sky Sports. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  13. ^ "Manu García, calidad y criterio para el centro del campo" [Manu García, quality and criterion for the centre of midfield] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  14. ^ "Gimnàstic de Tarragona 0–3 Deportivo Alavés". ESPN FC. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  15. ^ "City stalt middenvelder Manu Garcia tot einde seizoen bij NAC". BN DeStem (web). 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  16. ^ Oatway, Caroline (17 January 2017). "Loan Watch: Denayar Shines Again". www.mancity.com. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  17. ^ Pollard, Rob (7 February 2017). "Loan Watch: Manu García bags NAC Winner". www.mancity.com. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  18. ^ "Manu García leaves Manchester City for a second year on loan at NAC Breda". City Watch. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  19. ^ "Manu García, new purple" (in French). Toulouse F.C. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  20. ^ "Manu García regresa al Sporting" [Manu García returns to Sporting]. Sporting Gijón (in Spanish). 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  21. ^ "Manu García será jugador del Sporting hasta 2024" [Manu García will be a Sporting player until 2024] (in Spanish). El Comercio. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  22. ^ "El Deportivo Alavés logra la cesión del internacional Sub-21 Manu García" [Deportivo Alavés get the loan of under-21 international Manu García] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  23. ^ "Άρης μεταγραφές: Ανακοίνωσε τον Μάνου Γκαρθία". www.sport24.gr. 24 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Μάνου Γκαρθία: Οριστικά στον Αρη ως η ακριβότερη μεταγραφή της ιστορίας του" (in Greek). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Άρης - Αστέρας 3-0: Κίτρινη κυριαρχία στο Βικελίδης και επιστροφή στις νίκες". www.sport24.gr. 8 January 2023.
  26. ^ "Άρης - Βόλος 3-0: Επιβλητικοί οι κίτρινοι με showman Μάνου Γκαρθία που πέτυχε χατ-τρικ". www.sport24.gr. 8 January 2023.
  27. ^ "Oficial | Lista de convocados para el encuentro ante Lituania" [Official | Squad list for the match against Lithuania]. Royal Spanish Football Federation (in Spanish). 6 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  28. ^ "Spain youngsters impress in Lithuania rout". MARCA. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  29. ^ Manu García at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  30. ^ "Games played by Manu García in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  31. ^ "Games played by Manu García in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  32. ^ "Games played by Manu Garcia in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  33. ^ "Games played by Manu Garcia in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  34. ^ "Games played by Manu Garcia in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  35. ^ "Games played by Manu Garcia in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 January 2021.