Manuel "Manu" García Alonso (; born 2 January 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for MLS club

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, García joined Sporting de Gijón's youth setup in 2010, aged 12, from Astur CF. On 2 May 2013, he agreed to a move to Manchester City, which paid €250,000 for his services in January, shortly after his 16th birthday.

Manchester City

García was initially assigned to the club's under-18 squad. In May 2015, shortly after being promoted to the under-21s, he was called up to the main squad by manager Manuel Pellegrini ahead of the year's North America pre-season tour. On 27 May 2015, García made his senior debut for City, coming on as a late substitute for David Silva in a 1–0 friendly away win against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

. He also took part of the club's pre-season friendlies against Melbourne City, Roma,

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. García made his professional debut on 22 September 2015, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute for Sergio Agüero in a 4–1

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

away routing of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. He went on to score the fifth goal in the 5–1 victory against Crystal Palace in the same competition. He made his

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 ...

debut against Aston Villa on 5 March 2016, replacing Yaya Touré. On 1 December 2016, García signed a contract extension with Manchester City, keeping him with the club until June 2020.

Alavés (loan)

On 16 August 2016, García was loaned to Deportivo Alavés, newly promoted to

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 ...

, for one year. He only made his debut on 1 December, as a substitute in a 3–0 win over Gimnàstic de Tarragona in 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 ...

NAC Breda (loan)

On 9 January 2017, García ended his season long loan short with Alavés and spent the rest of the season with Eerste Divisie side NAC Breda. He made his debut immediately, starting in a 2–0 win over Jong FC Utrecht on 16 January. García scored his first goal for the club on 6 February in a 1–0 win over

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

. García was loaned back to NAC Breda for the 2017–18 season on 30 June 2017.

Toulouse (loan)

García joined

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

on loan for the 2018–19 season.

Sporting Gijón

García rejoined his first club Sporting de Gijón on 19 July 2019, signing a five-year contract and becoming the highest transfer in the club's history, as they paid €4 million for his services.

Return to Alavés (loan)

On 8 July 2021, García returned to Alavés, again in the top tier, also on loan.

Aris

On 24 July 2022, García signed a four-year contract with Aris for a club record fee of €4 million. He scored his first goal in a 3–0 home win against Asteras Tripoli, on 8 January 2023. On 21 January 2023, García scored his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a comfortable 3–0 home win against

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

International career

Due to the isolation of some national team players following the positive

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

test of Sergio Busquets, Spain's under-21 squad were called up for the international friendly against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

on 8 June 2021. García made his senior debut in the match as Spain won 4–0.

Career statistics

Club

International

Notes

References

External links

*
Manchester City profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Manu 1998 births Living people Footballers from Oviedo Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Deportivo Alavés players Sporting de Gijón players Premier League players Manchester City F.C. players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players NAC Breda players Ligue 1 players Toulouse FC players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Sporting Kansas City players Designated Players (MLS) Super League Greece players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Major League Soccer players