Diego Miguel López Santos (born 14 March 1974) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Career

López started his career in 1991 with

CD Málaga Club Deportivo Málaga was a Spanish football club based in Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It played twenty seasons in La Liga, before being dissolved in 1992. History Origins The first football club in Málaga was establ ...

. He made his professional bow during a

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 ...

win away to

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental and its joint capital (co-capital), on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona. Sabadell is located above sea level. Sabadell pioneered the Ind ...

on 17 November, with eight further appearances following as they were relegated. 1993 saw López move to

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

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 ...

. He netted six goals, including two on his debut in the Copa del Rey over Almería, in the 1993–94 campaign as he again suffered relegation. Almería subsequently signed López at the end of that season. Eleven goals in thirty-six fixtures came with promotion to the second tier in his first campaign. After two seasons, López was relegated for a third time as they placed seventeenth. Despite going down with Almería, López moved up to La Liga in 1996 after agreeing a deal with Hércules. Goals against Espanyol and

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

arrived but it was to be relegation again for the midfielder as Hércules finished twenty-first. A short stint with

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

followed, prior to López featuring for

Xerez Xerez Club Deportivo, known simply as Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Xerez currently plays in Tercera División RFEF, the fifth tier of Spanish football. Founded on 24 ...

and Ceuta between 1998 and 2001. In 2001, López joined Segunda División B side Motril. His first season with the club ended with the Group IV title, though they missed out on promotion to Getafe, but his secondary campaign concluded with a fifth career relegation. López had subsequent spells with Novelda, Linense and

Granada 74 Granada 74 Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Granada 74, was a Spanish football team based in Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It has not registered in any competition since 2009, it held home matches at ''Estadio La V ...

Career statistics

Honours

;Motril *

: 2001–02 Group IV

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Diego (footballer, born 1974 03) 1974 births Living people Footballers from Málaga Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Segunda División players Segunda División B players La Liga players CD Málaga footballers Málaga CF players UD Almería players Hércules CF players Granada CF footballers Xerez CD footballers AD Ceuta footballers Motril CF players Novelda CF players Real Balompédica Linense footballers Granada 74 CF footballers