Alberto Moreno Pérez (; born 5 July 1992) 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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for club

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

. An academy graduate of local side

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, he made his senior debut for the club's reserve side in 2011 before going on to feature in 62 official games for the first team. During his time with Sevilla, he was part of the squad which won the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

title in 2014. The following season, he joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Liverpool for a reported fee of £12 million, where he made 141 appearances and collected runners-up medals in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

and the Europa League, and a winner's medal in the Champions League. Moreno was part of the Spain under-21 team that won the 2013 UEFA European Championship and made his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

debut the same year.

Club career

Sevilla

Moreno was born in the

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 ...

n capital of

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

and at the age of 13 joined local side

. There he progressed through the club's youth academy and made his senior debut for the reserve side,

Sevilla Atlético Sevilla Atlético is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1950, it is the reserve team of Sevilla FC, Sevilla. It plays in and holds home games at the Ciu ...

, on 12 June 2011 in a 3–1 home win over

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

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 ...

play-offs. The club ultimately lost 5–4 on aggregate, however. His first full season followed thereafter during which he scored four goals in 30 games, including his first senior goal directly from a

corner kick A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...

in added time against

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

. Whilst playing for the reserve side, Moreno operated under the tutelage of Ramón Tejada who rotated him between attacking and defensive positions down the left-flank of the field. The positional rotation was later credited for his tactical awareness which contributed to him making his first team, and

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 ...

debut. This took place on 8 April 2012 when he came on as a substitute for

Manu del Moral Manuel "Manu" del Moral Fernández (born 25 February 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as either a forward or winger, and the current manager of Getafe CF B. He played 272 games and scored 53 goals in La Liga, repre ...

in the last minutes of a 1–0 away loss against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

. In February 2013, Moreno was permanently promoted to the first team and he scored his first professional goal on 20 October, netting the second in a 2–2 draw at

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

. He ultimately made 17 appearances during a campaign blemished only by a straight red card he received following a confrontation with

Gabi Gabi or GABI may refer to: People * Gabi (born 1997), also known as Gabbriette, American model and musician * Gabi (footballer, born 1981) or Gabriel José Pinto Couto, Portuguese footballer * Gabi (footballer, born 1983) or Gabriel Fernández ...

in a league match 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 enjoyed a breakthrough season in the 2013–14 campaign where he made 44 appearances in total for the club, including 14 in Sevilla's victorious run in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. His performances throughout the season also contributed towards Sevilla ending the fifth in the league and earned him a spot in

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's provisional squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. On 12 August 2014, and on the eve of Sevilla's

2014 UEFA Super Cup The 2014 UEFA Super Cup was the 39th edition of the UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. ...

match against

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 ...

, Moreno was withdrawn from the club's match-day squad after the club agreed a £12 million deal with

side

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

for his signature. Following the match, Moreno was in tears and had to be consoled as he was given a send off by the club's fans. He later explained that he was emotional to be leaving Sevilla as the club was the "club of his life" but that he was equally motivated to succeed at Liverpool.

Liverpool

On 16 August 2014, Moreno officially completed his move to

and he made his debut for the club 10 days later in a 3–1 league loss to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. He then scored his first goal on 31 August, netting the third goal in 3–0 away win against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

after dispossessing

Andros Townsend Andros Darryl Townsend (born 16 July 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Turkish Süper Lig club Antalyaspor. A graduate of the Tottenham Hotspur academy, Townsend was initially loaned out to several Le ...

and sprinting 40 yards to score. He scored again in December, against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

, but ultimately endured an inconsistent debut season at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

, with his attacking output not matched by his defensive performances. Moreno spent the first four games of the next season as a substitute as new teammate

Joe Gomez Joseph Dave Gomez (born 23 May 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Liverpool and the England national team. Gomez began his career at Charlton Athletic, breaking into the first team at 17 and playi ...

started in his position. However, on 20 September 2015, he made his first league start of the season, providing the assist for

Danny Ings Daniel William John Ings (born 23 July 1992) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United. He will become a free agent on 1 Ju ...

' first Liverpool goal in a 1–1 draw against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

, and was praised for his man of the match performance. His performance in the

2016 UEFA Europa League Final The 2016 UEFA Europa League final was a association football, football match between Liverpool F.C., Liverpool of England and Sevilla FC, Sevilla of Spain on 18 May 2016 at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland. The showpiece event was the final mat ...

, where Liverpool lost 1–3 to his former club Sevilla, was heavily criticised by pundits and journalists for positioning and defensive errors. Spartak Moscow- Liverpool

On 14 August 2016, Moreno started in the first game of the season, a 4–3 win at Arsenal, where he conceded a penalty and was criticised heavily for his performance, prompting a defence from his manager

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

. Despite his manager's intervention, he was dropped and used only as a late substitute for the next game, an 0–2 loss at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. He made 18 appearances over the season, just eight as a starter, as

James Milner James Philip Milner (born 4 January 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Brighton & Hove Albion. A versatile player, Milner has played in multiple positions, including on either wing, in midfield and ...

was preferred in the left-back slot. In April 2017,

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

teams

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

and

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

spoke to Liverpool about a transfer for Moreno, and in June the Reds rejected a €12.5 million bid for him from another Italian club,

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

. Moreno played more frequently at the start of the 2017–18 season, but was criticised in November in a Champions League group game against Sevilla, in which Liverpool led 3–0 at half time but drew 3–3, and was defended by Klopp. He ultimately lost his position to new signing

Andrew Robertson Andrew Henry Robertson (born 11 March 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays at left-back for club Liverpool and captains the Scotland national team. He is regarded as one of the best left-backs of his generation and one of th ...

for the rest of the season. Despite not playing in the

2019 UEFA Champions League Final The 2019 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA and the 27th season since it was rebranded the UEFA Champions League. ...

against

on 1 June 2019, Moreno won his first Champions League winner's medal as Liverpool won 2–0. Three days later, after making just five appearances all

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, Moreno was released by Liverpool.

Villarreal

On 9 July 2019, Moreno signed a five-year contract with

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

. In September 2020, he was ruled out for an estimated six months with a cruciate ligament injury to the left knee. On 26 May 2021, Moreno won the

Europa League final The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the second- ...

with Villarreal, scoring a penalty in the 11–10 shootout.

Como

On 19 July 2024, Moreno signed a one-year contract with club

as a free agent.

International career

Youth

Moreno represented the Spain under-21s at the 2013 UEFA European Championship, being first-choice as he helped them retain their European title. Following the competition's completion he was announced in UEFA's official team of the tournament.

Senior

Moreno was called up to the senior team on 4 October 2013 for the last

qualifier against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and he made his debut on 15 October, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 win in

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

. Moreno was included in

Vicente del Bosque Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquess of Del Bosque (; born 23 December 1950) is a Spanish retired football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and is to date the only football manager to ha ...

's 30-man provisional list for the tournament in Brazil, but was one of seven players cut from the final squad. Over three years since his last cap, Moreno was recalled by

Julen Lopetegui Julen Lopetegui Argote (; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish professional football manager and former footballer. He is the current manager of the Qatar national team. A goalkeeper, he played 149 La Liga matches over nine seasons, representing ...

for friendlies against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in November 2017.

Personal life

Moreno has many tattoos. In April 2016, he had his leg decorated with an image of a gun-toting

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

dressed in a suit and wearing headphones;

ESPN FC ESPN FC (formerly ESPN SoccerNet) is a website and a U.S. television studio program covering soccer that is broadcast daily over the streaming service ESPN+. ESPN FC's origin was a website owned by ESPN Inc. Originally established in 1995 as Soc ...

's verdict was "Please don't ask, because we haven't got the slightest clue." The back of his leg is decorated with the coordinates of his hometown's Plaza de España. Moreno has two children with his partner Lilia Granadilla.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Sevilla *

: 2013–14 Liverpool *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2018–19; runner-up: 2017–18 *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 2015–16 * UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2015–16 Villarreal * UEFA Europa League:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Individual * UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

Profile
at the Como 1907 website
Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moreno, Alberto 1992 births Living people Footballers from Seville Spanish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Sevilla Atlético players Sevilla FC players Liverpool F.C. players Villarreal CF players Como 1907 players Segunda División B players La Liga players Premier League players Serie A players UEFA Europa League–winning players UEFA Champions League–winning players Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy 21st-century Spanish sportsmen