José Alberto Cañas Ruiz-Herrera (born 27 May 1987) 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 ...

who plays for Greek club Ionikos 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 ...

. He started his career with

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vi ...

, joining the first team in 2009 and going on to make 72 official appearances, 51 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' ...

, over three seasons, and spent 2013–14 in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

with

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ...

Club career

Betis

A product of

' youth ranks, Cañas was born in

Rota Rota or ROTA may refer to: Places * Rota (island), in the Marianas archipelago * Rota (volcano), in Nicaragua * Rota, Andalusia, a town in Andalusia, Spain * Naval Station Rota, Spain People * Rota (surname), a surname (including a list of peop ...

Province of Cádiz Cádiz is a province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of continental Europe. It is bordered by the Spanish provinc ...

. He made his first-team – and

– debut on 3 May 2009, playing 83 minutes in a 0–2 home loss against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in ...

. The

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

ns were ultimately relegated at the season's end. Cañas was definitely promoted to Betis' main squad for

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

. He contributed 15 games during the campaign (only four starts however) as the club returned to the top flight after two years as champions, being a regular the following two seasons.

Swansea City

In April 2013, before the season in Spain was over, Cañas refused to renew his expiring contract with Betis, choosing instead to join

on a three-year deal. He made his debut on 1 August, coming on as a late substitute in a 4–0 home victory over

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Associatio ...

in the first leg of the

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

Espanyol

On 1 September 2014, Cañas returned to his country and its top division, joining

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

on a three-year contract on a free transfer. His first competitive appearance took place 13 days later, as he played the last ten minutes of a 3–1 defeat at

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the S ...

. During his tenure at the

Estadi Cornellà-El Prat RCDE Stadium, also known as Estadi Cornellà-El Prat (; es, Estadio Cornellà-El Prat ), is an all-seater football stadium on the outskirts of Cornellà de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat, in the wider Barcelona urban area (Catalonia, Spai ...

, Cañas appeared in 48 games in all competitions. 2015–16 was marred by injury problems.

PAOK

On 11 July 2016,

PAOK FC P.A.O.K. FC ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, '' Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstadinoupolitón'', "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athlet ...

announced the signing of Cañas until the summer of 2019, for an undisclosed fee. On 2 April 2017 he scored his first goal as a professional, in a 2–0 home win against Athlitiki Enosi Larissa FC. Cañas was part of the squad that won the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most i ...

three years in a row, totalling 16 matches and two goals in these achievements.

Red Star

Cañas joined

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in late June 2019, agreeing to a two-year contract. He made his debut under coach

Vladan Milojević Vladan Milojević (; born 9 March 1970) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Cypriot First Division club APOEL. Playing career Born in Aranđelovac, Milojević joined the youth system of ...

in a friendly on 1 July with

FC Blau-Weiß Linz FC Blau-Weiß Linz or BW Linz are an Austrian association football club playing in the Second League in the current 2020–21 season. History In 1997, FC Blau-Weiß Linz was founded, which adopted the traditions of the defunct club FC Li ...

, which was won 3–1. When his new team qualified for the group stage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, he was among the players who celebrated riding around Belgrade in an

armored vehicle Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighti ...

Later years

In August 2020, Cañas returned to his country and signed a one-year deal with

CD Atlético Baleares Club Deportivo Atlético Baleares, S.A.D. ( ca, Club Esportiu Atlètic Balears) is a Spanish football team based in Palma, Majorca, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded on 1920, it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, 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 Fo ...

. He left after one

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 tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

, even though the club tried hard to convince him to renew his link. In August 2021, the 34-year-old Cañas agreed to a one-year contract with

Ionikos F.C. Ionikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Ιωνικός) or Ionikos Nikaia is a Greek professional football club based in Nikaia, Piraeus, Greece, currently competing in the Super League Greece, the top-tier of the Greek football league system. From ...

in a return to the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

Personal life

Cañas' uncle, Juan José, was also a footballer and a midfielder. He too spent most of his professional career with Betis.

Career statistics

Honours

PAOK *

: 2018–19 *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 Red Star *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canas, Jose 1987 births Living people People from Rota, Andalusia Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Cádiz Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers Real Betis players RCD Espanyol footballers CD Atlético Baleares footballers Premier League players Swansea City A.F.C. players Super League Greece players PAOK FC players Ionikos F.C. players Serbian SuperLiga players Red Star Belgrade footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Wales Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Wales Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Serbia