César Jasib Montes Castro (born 24 February 1997) is a Mexican professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

and the Mexico national team.

Club career

Monterrey

During a youth league playoff match with Pobablo Miguel Alemán FC against

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

, he caught the attention of the opposing team. He was eventually brought onto Monterrey's youth team and on 2 August 2015, Montes played his first match with Monterrey against Portuguese team Benfica on the inauguration of the

Estadio BBVA Bancomer Estadio BBVA, formerly known as the Estadio BBVA Bancomer, is an association football stadium in Guadalupe, Greater Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Nicknamed "El Gigante de Acero" in Spanish (), the stadium replaced the Estadio Tecnológico as th ...

. Montes came in as a substitute for the second half, and at the 48th minute he scored the first ever-goal in the Estadio BBVA Bancomer. Monterrey defeated Benfica 3–0. Montes made his official debut for Monterrey on 29 July 2015, against

Correcaminos UAT Club de Fútbol Correcaminos de la Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, simply known as Correcaminos UAT, is a Mexican professional football club based in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. It competes in Liga de Expansión MX, the second level divisi ...

in an

Apertura 2015 Copa MX The Apertura 2015 Copa MX (officially the Apertura 2015 Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons) was the 74th staging of the Copa MX, the 47th staging in the professional era and is the seventh tournament played since the 1996–97 edition. This ...

group stage match, where Monterrey defeated Correcaminos 3–1. At the end of the 2016 Clausura, he was listed in the Best XI. At the end of December 2019, Montes would win the 2019 Apertura finals against América. With Monterrey's victory of the

2019–20 Copa MX The 2019–20 Copa MX was the 82nd staging of the Copa MX, the 54th staging in the professional era and the fifteenth tournament played since the 1996–97 edition. The tournament started on 30 July 2019 and ended on 4 November 2020. It marked ...

, they had obtained the

continental treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A continental treble involves winning the club's top-level domestic league competition, main domestic cup competition, and main continental tro ...

. Clásico Regiomontano

Clásico Regiomontano The Clásico Regiomontano, Clásico Regio, Clásico del Norte or Clásico Norteño is a football derby in Nuevo León, Mexico, between crosstown rival teams C.F. Monterrey and Tigres UANL. Since the first Clásico in 1974, the two teams have comp ...

matches against crosstown rivals

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

have proven to be significant for Montes, scoring three goals against them to date. He would make his league debut on 19 September 2015 against Tigres UANL, contributing a 40-meter long ball assist to

Rogelio Funes Mori Rogelio Gabriel Funes Mori (born 5 March 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club UNAM. Funes Mori made his professional debut for River Plate. After four years, he moved overseas to join Benfica. Seeking m ...

to score the only goal for Monterrey where they lost Monterrey lost 3–1. On 14 May 2016, he would score Monterrey's only goal of the second leg of the Clausura 2016 championship quarter-final against Tigres UANL, losing 2–1, but with an aggregate score of 4–3 in favor of Monterrey to allow them move onto the semi-final against América. On 29 October 2016, he would tie the game against Tigres UANL, 1–1. On 21 April 2017, Montes scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Tigres UANL.

Espanyol

On 27 December 2022, Montes moved abroad and joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

, with a contract until 2028. He made his debut for the club on 7 January 2023, in a 2–2 home draw against

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

Almería

On 1 September 2023, after Espanyol's

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

, Montes joined

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

. He reportedly signed to a six-year contract with a transfer fee of €14 million, making Montes Almería's most expensive signing.

Lokomotiv Moscow

On 12 September 2024, Montes signed for

club

on a five-year deal.

International career

Youth

Montes was part of

Marco Antonio Ruiz Marco Antonio Ruíz García (born 12 July 1969) is a Mexican football head coach and former player who manages Jaiba Brava. A midfielder, he appeared in 16 matches for the Mexico national team and was a member of the Mexico squad at the 2001 ...

's roster that participated in the

2018 Toulon Tournament The 2018 Toulon Tournament (officially ) was the 46th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 26 May to 9 June 2018. England won the tournament for the third successive year beating Mexico 2–1 i ...

. He would go on to appear in all group stage matches including the semi-final, except for the final where Mexico would go to lose 1–2 against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

since he picked up an injury in the previous match against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He would go on to be included in the Best XI team of the tournament. On 7 July 2016, Montes was named by

Raúl Gutiérrez Raúl Erasto Gutiérrez Jacobo (born 16 October 1966), also known as El Potro, is a Mexican professional football manager and former player. At the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, he coached the Mexico U-17 team to their second title. Playing care ...

to be included in Mexico's 21-man squad that would participate in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil. He would appear in all of Mexico's group stage matches but Mexico would finish third in their group and were thus eliminated from the competition. Ruled out for the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship, CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted association footbal ...

as it was not a FIFA-sanctioned tournament, Montes was called up by

Jaime Lozano Jaime Arturo "Jimmy" Lozano Espín (born 29 September 1979) is a Mexican professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the current head coach of Liga MX club C.F. Pachuca, Pachuca. ...

to participate in the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. He won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

with the Olympic team.

Senior

Arg vs mex julian alvarez vs cesar montes

Montes was called up by the senior national team to participate in the

2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF, and 24th CONCACAF regional championship ove ...

. He would make his debut on 13 July 2017 during a group stage match against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, coming in as a substitute for

Rodolfo Pizarro Rodolfo Gilbert Pizarro Thomas (born 15 February 1994) is a Mexican professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Liga MX club FC Juárez, Juárez. Pizarro began his professional career with C.F. Pachuc ...

at half-time, finishing the game at 0–0. On 6 June 2019, Montes was called up by coach

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who last coached Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He ...

to participate in the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

. He appeared as a substitute in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

match against

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and as a starter in the final group stage match against

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

as Mexico went on to win the tournament. In October 2022, Montes was named in Mexico's preliminary 31-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, and in November, he was ultimately included in the final 26-man roster. Montes was included in

Diego Cocca Diego Martín Cocca (born 11 February 1972) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He is the current manager of Talleres. Playing career Club Cocca started his career with River Plate in 1 ...

's roster for the

2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals The 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League, 2022–23 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the second season of the international Association football, football competition involvi ...

. During the semi-final match against the United States, Montes was sent off in the 69th minute after getting in a physical altercation with

Weston McKennie Weston James Earl McKennie (born August 28, 1998) is an American professional association football, soccer player who plays primarily as a midfielder for Serie A club Juventus FC, Juventus and the United States men's national soccer team, Unite ...

, who was also sent off in the 71st minute after a VAR check. Montes was given a four-match suspension by CONCACAF, which included the third place match against Panama and the

2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 17th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. Canada and the United ...

group stage. Montes was included in the subsequent

. Mexico won the tournament after defeating

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Style of play

Montes had been described as a ball-playing defender with great range of passing, and has shown on occasions that he is able to pick out long-range passes, and can execute a well-timed and accurate slide tackle. Due to his stature, he is also capable of contributing goals in set-pieces, is good in the air, and is able to deal with high balls into the box.

Personal life

His younger brother,

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

, is also a professional footballer, playing for Liga MX club

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.''

Honours

Monterrey *

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

: Apertura 2019 *

Copa MX Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

: Apertura 2017, 2019–20 *

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

third place:

Mexico U23 *

Olympic Bronze Medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Mexico *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League (, ) is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its secondary continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament takes pla ...

: 2024–25 Individual *

Best XI: Clausura 2016 *

Best Rookie: 2015–16 *

All-Star:

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

Best XI:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Men's CONCACAF Best XI: 2022 *

CONCACAF Nations League Finals The CONCACAF Nations League (, ) is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its secondary continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament takes pla ...

Best XI:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

Profile
at the RCD Espanyol website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Montes, Cesar 1997 births Living people Mexican men's footballers Mexico men's international footballers Footballers from Hermosillo Men's association football central defenders C.F. Monterrey players RCD Espanyol footballers UD Almería players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players Liga MX players La Liga players Segunda División players Russian Premier League players Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Mexico 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2024 Copa América players 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Mexico Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Mexican expatriate men's footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 21st-century Mexican sportsmen