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 ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Having reached the professionals at the age of 24, he amassed Segunda División totals of 226 games and one goal, mainly at the service of

Celta Celta is Galician, Portuguese and Spanish for the Celts. It may also refer to: * Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL ...

. He also competed in

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' ...

with the club, in the 2012–13 season.

Club career

Early career and Celta

Bustos was born in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous comm ...

. He began his senior football 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 Primera División RFEF – Group 2, and holds home matches at ''Estadio Nuevo Pepico Amat'', which h ...

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 in ...

, Real Murcia B, Hércules CF B,

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its home ...

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 Segunda Federación – Group ...

. 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 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 ...

in the Segunda División, 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 de Vigo or simply Celta, 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) ...

, 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 first official goal for the side on 12 December, in a 2–1 win over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

at the

Balaídos The Estadio Municipal de Balaídos (), known as Abanca-Balaídos for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium located in Vigo, Spain. It is owned by the Vigo's city council, and is the home of La Liga club Celta Vigo. The stadium opened o ...

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 early as 8 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 (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

, 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, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

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 Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches a ...

Mumbai City

On 30 July 2015, Bustos moved to

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

franchise

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

; 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 as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established ...

Later years

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

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a Spanish football team based in Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Preferente Autonómica de Murcia – Group 1, holding home games at Estadio Francisco Artés ...

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 Segunda Federación, holding home games at '' Estadio de La Condomina'', with ...

. 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 eit ...

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

Coaching

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 footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently a manager. He amassed Segunda División totals of 325 matches and 13 goals over nine seasons, in representation of six clubs ...

Club statistics

References

External links

*
Celta de Vigo biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bustos, Cristian 1983 births Living people Footballers from Alicante Spanish men's footballers 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