Alexandre 'Àlex' Granell Nogué (born 2 August 1988) is a Spanish 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

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Bolivian Primera División The División de Fútbol Profesional is the top-flight professional football league in Bolivia. In 2017 it replaced the "Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano" (; ). Since 1950, a total of 16 clubs have been crowned champions of the Bolivian foot ...

club Bolívar. He spent the vast majority of his career with

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

, representing the club in both

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 ...

and

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 ...

while appearing in 233 competitive matches and scoring 16 goals.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Olot Olot (; ) is the capital city of the ''Catalonia/Comarques, comarca'' of Garrotxa, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The city is known for its natural landscape, including four volcanoes scattered around the city center. The municipali ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Granell began his career with local amateurs , and played in

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

the following years, representing CD Banyoles,

AEC Manlleu Agrupació Esportiva i Cultural Manlleu is a football team based in Manlleu, Spain. Founded in 1931, it plays in the . Its stadium is '' Municipal de Manlleu'' with a capacity of 3000 seats. Season to season ---- *8 seasons in ''Segunda Divisi ...

UE Llagostera C.F. Badalona Futur Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Badalona, Province of Barcelona, Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Founded in 1947, it currently plays ...

and

UE Olot Unió Esportiva Olot, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Olot, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1921, it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadi Municipal d'Olot'', with a capacity of 3,000 seats. History The histo ...

, all also from his native region. With the second to last team he achieved promotion in 2011, appearing in 34 matches and scoring three goals. Granell first arrived 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 ...

in 2012, after returning to Llagostera. After starting rarely, however, he moved to

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

in the same league on 28 December 2012. On 1 August 2013, he signed with

AE Prat Associació Esportiva Prat is a Spanish football team based in El Prat de Llobregat, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1945 it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadi Sagnier'', with a 500-seat capacity. History The club w ...

also in the third tier.

Girona

On 30 June 2014, Granell joined

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 ...

, signing a two-year contract. He made his debut in the competition on 24 August, starting in a 1–0 home win against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

. Granell scored his first professional goal on 23 November 2014, closing the 2–0 home victory over

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 ...

. In the 2016–17 season, he contributed two goals in 31 appearances as the club achieved promotion to

for the first time ever. Granell made his debut in the top flight on 19 August 2017, starting in a 2–2 home draw against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. He scored his only goal in the competition the following 31 March, as the hosts drew 1–1 with

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

. During most of his spell, he was

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

and was also in charge of set pieces. On 15 August 2019, Granell agreed to a new deal through 2022.

Bolívar

On 6 October 2020, Granell moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing for

Club Bolívar Club Bolívar () is a Bolivian professional football club that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1925 in honor of military leader Simón Bolívar, the club has used light blue kits throughout its history, which is why ...

of the

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Granell, Alex 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Olot 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Girona Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players FC Palafrugell players CE Banyoles players AEC Manlleu footballers Som Maresme FC players UE Olot players Cádiz CF players AE Prat players Girona FC players Bolivian Primera División players Club Bolívar players Challenger Pro League players Lommel S.K. players Catalonia men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Bolivia Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium