Manuel "Manu" Herrera Yagüe (born 29 September 1981) 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 le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

CF Intercity Club de Fútbol Intercity is a Spanish football team based in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. The club plays in the Primera División RFEF – Group 2, the third tier of Spanish football. They hold home games at the ''Estadio Antonio So ...

Club career

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Herrera joined

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 ...

's youth setup in 1995, aged 13, and made his senior debut with the C team in 2000–01, in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

. He was promoted to the reserves 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 Foot ...

the following year, but failed to make an appearance during the season.¿Qué fue de Manu Herrera? (What happened to Manu Herrera?)

Vavel Vavel (stylized VAVEL) is a sports news website. It has 16 editions; Spain, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Italy, France, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Portugal, Germany, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and an edition represe ...

, 9 March 2019 (in Spanish) After a brief period with amateurs

UD Casetas Unión Deportiva Casetas is a Spanish football team based in Casetas, Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1922, it plays in ''Regional Preferente – Group 3'', holding home matches at '' Campo Municipal de Fútbol San Migu ...

, Herrera joined

Palamós CF Palamós Club de Futbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Palamós, a town and commercial port in the ''Costa Brava'', in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in the late 19th century, it currently plays in '' Tercera Divisió ...

in the third division. In June 2004 he moved to

Atlético Levante UD Atlético Levante Unión Deportiva is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake community. Founded in 1962, it is the reserve team of Levante UD, and for the 2022–23 season p ...

in the same league, and served as third choice for the main squad in 2006–07 behind José Francisco Molina and

Pablo Cavallero Pablo Oscar Cavallero (born 13 April 1974) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Nine years of his professional career were spent in Spain, mainly with Celta. He appeared in 152 La Liga matches over eight seasons. An ...

. On 8 August 2007, Herrera was loaned to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

club

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

. His first game as a professional occurred on 10 October, in a 2–1 away loss against Elche CF in

the third round ''The Third Round'' (1925) was the second silent film adaptation of the Bulldog Drummond character, starring Jack Buchanan and Betty Faire, adapted by Sidney Morgan from the novel of the same name by H. C. McNeile, and directed by Morgan. Cas ...

of 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 footbal ...

. His maiden appearance in the league came late in the same month, a 2–2 home draw with

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 ...

. In summer 2008, Herrera returned to the Valencian side, now in division two. Initially a backup to

Manolo Reina Manuel 'Manolo' Reina Rodríguez (born 1 April 1985) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Málaga CF as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Villanueva del Trabuco, Málaga, Andalusia, Reina was a product of hometown Málaga CF's you ...

, he enjoyed a run in the starting XI from November 2009 until March of the following year, and also achieved promotion. Herrera joined AD Alcorcón also of the second tier on 23 July 2010. After two years as a starter (playing all league matches in

the second ''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the origin ...

), he moved to Elche in June 2012. Herrera won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy in his debut season with the ''Franjiverdes'', who won the league and returned to

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's ...

after 24 years. On 19 August 2013, one month shy of his 32nd birthday, he made his debut in the competition, starting in the 3–0 away defeat to Rayo Vallecano. On 13 July 2015, Herrera signed a two-year deal with

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

after his contract with Elche expired. On 1 August of the following year he cut ties with the former team, and joined

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 Vill ...

the following day. On 3 August 2017, Herrera agreed to a one-year contract at CA Osasuna. In January 2019, after six competitive appearances at the El Sadar Stadium, the

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 ...

returned to the lower leagues 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 ...

Honours

Elche *

2012–13 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. I ...

Individual * Ricardo Zamora Trophy: 2012–13Fran Escribá y Manu Herrera, premiados por "MARCA" (Fran Escribá and Manu Herrera, awarded by "MARCA")
Elche CF, 2 December 2013 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera, Manu 1981 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Madrid Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players Segunda Federación players Real Madrid C footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Palamós CF footballers Atlético Levante UD players Levante UD footballers SD Eibar footballers AD Alcorcón footballers Elche CF players Real Zaragoza players Real Betis players CA Osasuna players CD Atlético Baleares footballers CF Intercity players