Álvaro Giménez Candela (born 19 May 1991), sometimes known simply as Álvaro, 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 ...
who plays as a forward.
He began his senior career with
Elche
Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Valencia B and Torrellano Illice before making his top-flight debut with Mallorca. A return to Elche preceded spells with Alcorcón and
Almería
Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...
, with whom he was the 2018–19 Segunda División top scorer with 20 goals. He spent the first half of the 2019–20 season with
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
of the English
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
. After helping them gain promotion to the top flight, his loan was made permanent. He later spent time on loan to second-tier clubs Mallorca, with whom he also gained promotion, and
Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
Elche
Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...
,
Valencian Community
The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...
, Giménez was a product of hometown club
Elche CF
Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Es ...
's youth system. He made his debut for the first team on 22 September 2007 in a 1–2 away loss against Real Sociedad, and played six more Segunda División matches with the main squad in that season.
In January 2010, Álvaro signed with neighbouring
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 Spa ...
who had already tried to acquire the player the previous year. He was assigned to the B-team, appearing rarely as they suffered relegation from the
third level
Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...
division four
The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...
. On 4 July 2011, he joined
RCD Mallorca B
RCD Mallorca B, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Palma, Majorca, in the Balearic Islands. Founded in 1967, it is the reserve team of RCD Mallorca and currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group 3, holding home matches at '' Est ...
in the third tier, being promoted to the main squad shortly after and making his
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' ...
debut on 29 October in a 0–5 loss at
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Found ...
.
Álvaro's first two goals in the top flight earned the Balearic Islands side four points, as he scored against Athletic Bilbao (1–1, home) and
Sporting de Gijón
Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...
(3–2, away) – on both occasions, he was fielded by manager
Joaquín Caparrós
Joaquín de Jesús Caparrós Camino (born 15 October 1955) is a Spanish football manager.
After winning the Segunda División with Sevilla in 2001, Caparrós was a regular on the La Liga sidelines for the best part of two decades. He coached ...
in the starting XI. However, in August 2012, he underwent surgery to correct a pubalgia ailment, being sidelined until November.
Álvaro moved to
Elche CF
Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Es ...
in summer 2013, being initially assigned to the reserves in the third division. In October, he suffered a serious knee injury which sidelined him until May 2014. He signed a new two-year deal with the ''Franjiverdes'' and was promoted to the first team. On 29 June 2016, he moved to
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 – Group 1, holding home matches at the Municipal de Sant ...
of the second tier after agreeing to a two-year contract.
On 2 July 2018,
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 ...
Álvaro joined another Segunda División club,
UD Almería
Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...
, on a two-year contract. He finished the campaign as the division's top goalscorer with 20 goals; highlights included a
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 wic ...
in a 5–3 home defeat of his former club Elche on 12 May 2019.
Having activated Álvaro's €1.5 million release clause, English
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
club
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
signed him on 6 August 2019 on a three-year contract. He had a difficult debut, coming into the visit to
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
after an hour with his side two goals down and struggling. He started the next match, at home to Barnsley three days later, and won the ball that led to
Lukas Jutkiewicz
Lukas Isaac Paul Jutkiewicz (born 28 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Birmingham City. He previously played for Swindon Town, Everton, Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town, Motherwell, Coventr ...
's opening goal before controlling a lofted pass from
Steve Seddon
Steven Jeffrey Seddon (born 25 December 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Cambridge United, on loan from fellow club Oxford United.
Seddon was on the books of Reading as a youngster before joining Birmin ...
on his chest and lobbing the goalkeeper to complete a 2–0 win. With no goals to show for all his hard work, by mid-November Álvaro had lost his place to Kerim Mrabti. With Jutkiewicz rested for the 27 November visit to
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
, Álvaro opened the scoring in a 1–1 draw with a goal that head coach
Pep Clotet
Josep Clotet Ruiz (born 28 April 1977) is a Spanish football coach, currently in charge of Italian Serie B club Brescia.
As well as working as assistant at several clubs, he managed Cornellà, Figueres, Espanyol B, Halmstad, Málaga B, Oxfor ...
hoped would restore "calm and confidence" to the player. He scored again ten days later in a win away at
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
, but soon lost form and made his last appearance for the club on 1 January 2020.
On the final day of the January 2020
transfer window
A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...
, Álvaro signed for Segunda División leaders Cádiz CF on
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...
until 30 June, with the intention of making the move permanent. He made four first-team appearances without scoring in the month before football in Spain was suspended because of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. He scored in his first match after the resumption, a late equaliser at home to
Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...
, and his loan was extended to cover the remainder of the season. Cádiz achieved promotion to the top flight, duly took up their option at a fee of €2.7 million, and Álvaro signed a three-year contract.
Having begun the season in
self-isolation
In health care facilities, isolation represents one of several measures that can be taken to implement in infection control: the prevention of communicable diseases from being transmitted from a patient to other patients, health care workers ...
because of contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19, Álvaro was not selected in the matchday squad when he did become available, amid speculation that he might leave on loan. Included on the bench for the visit of Granada the day before the transfer window closed, he came on at half-time, and within three minutes had attempted and failed with an
overhead kick
In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...
that ended up as an
assist
Assist or ASSIST may refer to:
Sports
Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team:
*Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...
for Iván Alejo's equalising goal. A week later, he was a late substitute as Cádiz won 1–0 away to previously unbeaten Real Madrid to go level on points at the top of the table. On his first start, on 28 November away to Elche, Álvaro headed the equalising goal and had a second disallowed for what he felt was an involuntary handball. He opened the scoring in the next match, making sure a likely
own goal
An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...
crossed the line, as Cádiz went on to beat Barcelona 2–1.
Álvaro's omission from the squad to face
Sevilla
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
in January coupled with the arrival of
Ivan Šaponjić
Ivan Šaponjić (Serbian Cyrillic: Иван Шапоњић; born 2 August 1997) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Slovan Bratislava in the Niké Liga.
At international level, Šaponjić won the gold medal for Se ...
, a player of similar style, served as a reminder that although Cádiz were not going to force him out, it might be in the interest of both club and player if a suitable move could be found. On 31 January, he signed for his former club, RCD Mallorca, at the time lying second in the
2020–21 Segunda División
The 2020–21 Segunda División season, also known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, was the 90th since its establishment. The season began on 12 September 2020 and concluded on 31 May 2021.
Teams Promotion and relegation (pre-season)
...
, on loan for the remainder of the season. There was no option to purchase. His first goal came from the penalty spot to complete a 2–1 win at home to Cartagena on 7 March, but it proved to be his only one from 14 appearances, mainly from the bench, as Mallorca were promoted to La Liga.
Álvaro joined another second-tier club,
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 L ...
, on 15 August 2021 on loan for the season; the deal included a costly obligation to purchase depending on appearances and promotion. He had still not scored when, three months later, Zaragoza were awarded a penalty with five minutes left of a goalless game against
Huesca
Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...
. Álvaro had missed a penalty only once in his professional career; he hit the post. His first goal, an 82nd-minute winner away to
Burgos
Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos.
Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...
on 4 November, broke the team's run of nine consecutive draws. He celebrated by hugging a supporter, and after the game used social media to try and contact the individual so that he could present him with his shirt. He scored three more goals in November, in a win and a draw that took the team seventh in the table. In the second half of the season, lack of goals from the team as a whole meant they ended up nearer relegation than the play-offs, and Álvaro was disappointed with his personal performance. In March, he said he could and should have contributed more than his five goals and three assists; in May, he apologised to the supporters for not playing to the standard he believed himself capable, said he would be lying if he claimed to have had a good season, and had no complaints about the amount of game-time the manager gave him, although he would have preferred to play with a partner rather than as a lone striker.
Back to Cádiz for the 2022–23 season, Giménez played just twice (31 minutes overall) before terminating his contract on 1 February 2023.