Francisco Javier "Javi" García Fernández (; born 8 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer. A defensive midfielder by nature, he could also appear as a central defender. He started his career with

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 ...

, but represented mostly the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, going on to have a three-year spell with Benfica in Portugal. In 2012 he signed with Manchester City, then spent a further three seasons in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

with Zenit Saint Petersburg where he appeared in 108 matches across all competitions. He returned to Spain with Betis in 2017 and retired at Boavista. García represented

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at various youth levels, including the victorious under-19s at the 2006 European Championship, and made his senior international debut in 2012.

Club career

Real Madrid

A product of

's youth system, García was born in Mula, Region of Murcia, and played three

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 ...

matches for the first team while still a junior, making his debut at age 17 in a 5–0 home win against Levante on 28 November 2004. After that, he would spend the entire 2005–06 season with the reserves in

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 ...

. The summer of 2006 was a very busy one for García: first, he won the UEFA European Championship with the under-19s, impressing first-team head coach Fabio Capello who recalled him to training sessions. He played most of Real's pre-season games, including a starting line-up spot in both Ramón de Carranza Trophy fixtures, being deployed in central midfield alongside new purchase Emerson; however, he failed to appear for the main squad in official matches. In August 2007, in the campaign of García's supposed definitive promotion to the first team, head coach Bernd Schuster would eventually prevent that golden opportunity – as fellow '' cantera'' players Rubén de la Red and Esteban Granero also left – and offers began to appear from clubs in the

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 ...

, including

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 ...

, and domestic teams such as Atlético Madrid and

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

. García would finally settle for

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

on 31 August, signing for four seasons for a €2.5 million transfer fee as the Navarre side was keen to replace injury-struck midfielder Javad Nekounam (out of action for several months); having first appeared in a 1–1 home draw to Sevilla, where he played one minute, he scored twice in his first six matches, in victories over Levante (4–1) and Villarreal (3–2). García's contract included a buy-back clause that could see him return to Real Madrid for €4 million. On 29 April 2008, Osasuna officially reported that the former had exercised their purchase option, and the player returned to the Santiago Bernabéu for 2008–09; he made his first league appearance for Real in his second spell during the 7–1 thrashing of Sporting de Gijón on 24 September, coming on as a second-half substitute for Mahamadou Diarra.

Benfica

Deemed surplus to requirements at Real Madrid, García signed for Benfica in Portugal on 21 July 2009 on a five-year contract for a €7 million transfer fee. An undisputed starter throughout his first season he also scored three goals, most notably through a header in the last minute for the game's only goal against Associação Naval 1º de Maio at home, as the club clung onto the top position on 9 November and eventually won the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

. García made 43 competitive appearances in 2011–12. His two goals of the campaign came against

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

in the Lisbon derby 1–0 home win, and at Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the

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 ...

– in the latter, he netted off a corner kick in the 85th minute to make it 1–1, but ten-men Benfica eventually lost 2–1 and 3–1 on aggregate.

Manchester City

On 31 August 2012, García joined Manchester City for £15.8 million. He made his

debut on 15 September in a 1–1 away draw to Stoke City, scoring with a header from a Carlos Tevez free-kick. After picking up a thigh injury in the early minutes of the Champions League group stage fixture against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

, García missed several weeks of action. He made his return against West Ham United, replacing Tevez in the 84th minute of a 0–0 draw at Upton Park. On 15 December, he started in a 3–1 victory at Newcastle United and scored his side's second goal.

Zenit Saint Petersburg

On 13 August 2014, Zenit Saint Petersburg announced the £13 million signing of García after he passed the medical and agreed to personal terms. He scored his first goal for his new team 18 days later, the only in an away win over Lokomotiv Moscow in the

. García played 24 matches in the 2014–15 season, scoring three times as the side won the fifth national championship in their history (fourth under the tournament's new denomination).

Betis

On 14 August 2017, the 30-year-old García returned to Spain after eight years to join Real Betis. He appeared in 64 total games for the team from the Estadio Benito Villamarín over three seasons, scoring once in a 3–1 away win against Alavés on 12 March 2018 and being sent off the following 10 February in a 3–0 loss at Leganés. García signed a new two-year contract with 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 ...

ns on 5 July 2019.

Boavista

After mutually terminating his contract with Betis, García went back to Portugal's top flight by joining Boavista on a three-year deal on 19 August 2020. He scored his first goal for the team on 25 October in a 2–2 draw at Famalicão, in which he was sent off. On 22 June 2022, the 35-year-old García retired. Remaining in Portugal, he immediately went back to Benfica and joined the staff of new manager Roger Schmidt.

International career

García represented the Spain national under-21 team at the 2009 UEFA European Championship, appearing against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(2–0 loss) in an eventual group stage exit. He earned his first cap for the full side on 26 May 2012, playing 22 minutes in a 2–0 friendly win over

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in St. Gallen.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Real Madrid B *

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 ...

: 2004–05 Real Madrid * Supercopa de España: 2008 Benfica *

: 2009–10 * Taça da Liga: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 Manchester City *

: 2013–14 * Football League Cup: 2013–14 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 2012–13 Zenit Saint Petersburg *

: 2014–15 * Russian Cup: 2015–16 * Russian Super Cup: 2015, 2016 Spain U19 * UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2006

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Javi 1987 births Living people People from Río Mula 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Region of Murcia Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players CA Osasuna players Real Betis players Primeira Liga players S.L. Benfica footballers Boavista F.C. players Premier League players Manchester City F.C. players Russian Premier League players FC Zenit Saint Petersburg players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Russia S.L. Benfica non-playing staff