Manuel "Manu" Antonio Molina Valero (born 20 November 1991) is a Spanish

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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Born in

Huelva Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Molina was a product of his local club

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

youth system. After completing his development at

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 ...

, he made his first-team debut at only 18, playing the last minute of the 3–1

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 ...

home win over

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

on 29 August 2010.Manu Molina: “Descender y después ascender en un año fue una hazaña” (Manu Molina: "To be relegated and then promote in one year was an exploit")
Diario AS, 10 October 2024 (in Spanish) One month later, he started and finished the match at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, but in a 3–0 loss. Molina was loaned to

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

for the 2011–12 season. He scored his first goal for the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

ese on 17 September 2011, in a 3–3 home draw against

CD Alcoyano Club Deportivo Alcoyano, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcoy, in the autonomous community of the Valencian Community. Founded in 1928, it plays in , holding home games in '' Estadio El Collao'', with a capacity of 4,850 seats. Hi ...

. In the following campaigns, Molina represented a host of sides in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

. The exception to this was 2014–15, when he appeared in the second tier with Recreativo. Molina returned to the professional leagues in the 2021–22 season, after achieving promotion with

UD Ibiza Unión Deportiva Ibiza is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in the town of Ibiza (town), Ibiza, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded in 2015, it pla ...

. In the second division, he later was a part of

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

and

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

.El onubense Manu Molina asciende con el Málaga a Segunda División (Huelva-born Manu Molina promotes with Málaga to ''Segunda División'')
Huelva Información, 23 June 2024 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Molina, Manu 1991 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Huelva Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers SD Huesca footballers Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Recreativo de Huelva players Deportivo Fabril players Lleida CF players Salamanca CF UDS players Real Balompédica Linense footballers UD Ibiza players Real Zaragoza players Málaga CF players