Manuel Fernández Muñiz (born 9 May 1986), commonly known as Manu, is a Spanish former 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

Club career

Born in

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cen ...

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensi ...

, and a product of ''Mareo'',

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

's youth academy, Manu made his professional debut during the 2005–06 season, with the club in the Segunda División. In 2007 he joined

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

, spending the better part of his first two years with the reserves. In the 2009–10 campaign, after

Gustavo Munúa Gustavo Adolfo Munúa Vera (born 27 January 1978) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently manager of Argentine club Unión de Santa Fe. After starting out at Nacional he spent most of his professional career in S ...

's departure to

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. They won the UEFA Intert ...

, Manu was promoted to

Dani Aranzubia Daniel Aranzubia Aguado (born 18 September 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and the goalkeeper coach of Athletic Bilbao B. He appeared in 303 La Liga matches during 13 seasons, with Athletic Bilb ...

's backup. On 23 March 2010, after the latter was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

against precisely Sporting Gijón (''Depor'' eventually finished with nine players) at the 10-minute mark, he made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

debut, in a 2–1 away loss. Due to injury to Aranzubia, Manu started

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

's first six games then returned to the bench, appearing in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

as Deportivo were eventually relegated after 20 years. In July he signed with another team in the second division,

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

, and continued competing at that level the following years, in representation of

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 1, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo ...

and

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

. Manu returned to the

Estadio Riazor Estadio Municipal de Riazor (), also known as Estadio ABANCA-RIAZOR for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium in A Coruña, Spain. The stadium is the home of Deportivo de La Coruña, and accommodates a total of 32,660 spectators, makin ...

for the 2015–16 season, arriving following injury to habitual starter

Fabri Fabri is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anna Fabri (f. 1496), Swedish publisher and printer * Annibale Pio Fabri (1697–1760), Italian singer and composer * Emanuel Fabri (born 1952), Maltese footballer * Ernst Fabri (1891� ...

. Again, he played second-fiddle, now to

Germán Lux Germán Darío Lux (born 7 June 1982) is a retired Argentine professional footballer who last played for River Plate as a goalkeeper. After starting out at River Plate, he spent most of his career in Spain with Mallorca and Deportivo. Club ...

. In the summer of 2016, Manu signed with Iranian club

Machine Sazi FC A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecule ...

, newly promoted to the

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

, on a one-year contract. He returned to Spain halfway through the campaign, joining

Marbella FC Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a Spanish football team based in Marbella, the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1997 it currently plays in Tercera Federación – Group 9 (the 5th level of the ...

from

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

Honours

Spain U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and Englan ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Manu 1986 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Gijón Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Sporting de Gijón B players Sporting de Gijón players Deportivo Fabril players Deportivo de La Coruña players Recreativo de Huelva players AD Alcorcón footballers Deportivo Alavés players Marbella FC players Persian Gulf Pro League players Machine Sazi F.C. players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Iran Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Iran