Cristian Bustos Costa (born 29 May 1983) is a Spanish former

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 played as a

defensive 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. ...

. Having reached the professionals at the age of 24, he went on to amass

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 ...

totals of 226 games and one goal, mainly at the service of

Celta CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL and EFL). It is provided by Cambridge Assessment English through authorised Cambridge English Teaching Qualification centres and can be ...

. He also competed in

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 ...

with that club in the 2012–13 season.

Playing career

Early years and Celta

Bustos was born in

Petrer Petrer (; ) is a town and municipality located in the '' comarca'' of Vinalopó Mitjà, in the province of Alicante of the autonomous community of Valencia, Spain. Petrer joins together with the city of Elda to form a conurbation with over 95 ...

Province of Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: / ) is a province located in eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province, containing the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Co ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

. He began his senior career in the lower leagues, with

CD Eldense Club Deportivo Eldense is a Spanish football team based in Elda, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1921, the club plays in the Segunda División, and holds home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Nuevo Pepico Amat'', which has a ...

Pinoso CF Pinoso Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Pinoso, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1950, they play in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Perfecto Rico Mira'', with a capacity of 3,000 people. History Founded i ...

Real Murcia B Real Murcia Club de Fútbol "B", also known as Real Murcia Imperial, is a Spanish football team based in Murcia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1922, it is the reserve team of Real Murcia and plays in , holding home games at ''Campus Unive ...

Hércules CF B Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol "B" is a Spanish football team located in Alicante. It is the reserve team of Hércules CF and currently plays in . Unlike in England, reserve teams in the Spain play in the same football pyramid as their se ...

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

and

Valencia CF Mestalla Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, and currently plays in , holding home games at '' Ciud ...

. In 2007, he signed for

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and black ...

, playing his first match as a professional on 26 August 2007 as he started in a 3–0 away loss against

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 ...

in the

, and went on to make 58 appearances in all competitions over two seasons before transferring to another club in that league,

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

, on a four-year deal. Bustos won promotion to

with Celta in 2012, as runners-up. He made his debut in the competition on 18 August of that year, playing 79 minutes in a 0–1 home defeat to Málaga, and scored his only official goal for the side on 12 December, in a 2–1 win over

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 ...

at the Balaídos in the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. In January 2013, rumours arose of Bustos joining

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

, as a result of which he was left out of the squad to face Real Madrid in the second leg. The next day, he was loaned out to the club until June, and subsequently the agreement was extended for a further season.

Mallorca

Bustos' contract with Celta was terminated by mutual consent on 30 June 2014, and the following month he signed for

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

of the second tier. He scored his first goal for his new team on 3 January 2015, in the 46th minute of a 2–0 home victory over

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

Mumbai City

On 30 July 2015, Bustos moved to

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

franchise

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is part of the City Football Group. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of the Ind ...

; upon joining, the 32-year-old said that he was "excited for the opportunity to play outside Spain". He made his debut on 10 October, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 away draw with

Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Blasters, is an Indian association football, professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of football in Indi ...

Later career

Bustos retired in 2018 at the age of 35, following spells with

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lorca, Spain, Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in the Region of ...

and

UCAM Murcia CF Universidad Católica de Murcia Club de Fútbol, commonly known as UCAM Murcia or simply UCAM, is a Spanish football club based in Murcia. Founded in 1999 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio de La Condomina'', with a capacity of 6,5 ...

. In the 2016–17 campaign, the veteran contributed 40 games (

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

included) as the former reached the second division for the first time ever.

Coaching career

Subsequently, Bustos had assistant coach spells at several second-tier clubs under

Aritz López Garai Aritz López Garai (born 6 November 1980) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently manager of the Mauritania national team. He amassed Segunda División totals of 325 matches and 13 goals over n ...

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Celta de Vigo biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bustos, Cristian 1983 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Alicante Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players CD Eldense footballers Real Murcia Imperial players Hércules CF B players Hércules CF players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers UD Salamanca players RC Celta de Vigo players Sporting de Gijón players RCD Mallorca players Lorca FC players UCAM Murcia CF players Indian Super League players Mumbai City FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India CD Numancia non-playing staff