Javier "Javi" Flores Santacruz (; born 9 February 1986) 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 for

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it 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. ...

. He started and finished his professional career with Córdoba, amassing

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 123 games and five goals over six seasons for that club and

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

. He appeared once 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 the latter.

Club career

Born in Córdoba,

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 ...

, Flores spent his entire youth career with

, and made his senior debut with their reserves in the 2004–05 season. He was promoted to the main squad the following year, and achieved promotion to the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

."Ha sido triste y duro; no podía ni mirar al abogado del club" ("It was sad and tough; I could not even look at the club's lawyer")
Diario Córdoba, 7 August 2011 (in Spanish) Flores missed most of the 2007–08 campaign due to injury, and only played his first match as a professional on 16 March 2008, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–1 away draw against

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 ...

. He was regularly used subsequently, being released in July 2011. On 1 September 2011, Flores joined

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 ...

team

Getafe CF B Getafe Club de Fútbol "B" is the reserve team of Getafe CF, club based in Getafe, Madrid metropolitan area, in the namesake community. Founded in 1983, it currently plays in holding home games at '' Ciudad Deportiva Getafe CF''. History Getafe ...

. After scoring a career-best ten goals in his only season, he signed with

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

of the second division. On 5 August 2012, during a friendly with

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo Domingo, ...

, Flores suffered a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury which kept him sidelined until April of the following year. He made his

debut on the last day of 2013–14, featuring 73 minutes in the 3–1 away loss to

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

. On 4 June 2014, Flores terminated his contract with the

Valencians Valencians ( ; ) are the native people of the Valencian Community, in eastern Spain. Since 2006, the Valencian people are officially recognised in the Valencian Statute of Autonomy as a ''nationality'' "within the unity of the Spanish nation". ...

and moved to third-tier club

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

on 2 September. He returned to Elche in 2017, after a two-year spell at

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 ...

in the same league. Flores returned to the

Estadio Nuevo Arcángel Estadio El Arcángel (officially known as the Estadio Bahrain Victorious Nuevo Arcángel de Córdoba for sponsorship reasons) is a municipally-owned multi-use stadium in Córdoba, Spain, Córdoba, Spain. It is operated by football club Córdoba C ...

in the summer of 2019, after the team had just been relegated to division three.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flores, Javi 1986 births Living people Footballers from Córdoba, Spain Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Primera Federación players Segunda Federación players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players Córdoba CF B players Córdoba CF players Getafe CF B players Elche CF players Real Murcia CF players Hércules CF players 21st-century Spanish sportsmen