José Miguel González Rey (born 15 November 1979), known as Josemi, is a Spanish former footballer. Mainly a right back, he also played as a central defender. He appeared in 178 La Liga matches over nine seasons (one goal), with

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, Villarreal and

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

, also representing Liverpool for one and a half seasons where he won two major titles including the 2005 Champions League. He later competed professionally in Greece, before moving to the newly formed Indian Super League.

Club career

Early career

Born in Torremolinos,

, Josemi started his professional career at

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, ...

, arriving from local amateurs Torremolinos Club de Fútbol in 1998. He started appearing for his new club with the reserve team, in Tercera División. After one match in 2000–01's closer, a 0–4 away loss against Deportivo de La Coruña on 17 June 2001, Josemi went on to become an essential defensive element for the Andalusia side, helping them to the

2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Málaga, Fulham, and Stuttgart. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. First round First leg ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- - ...

and soon attracting interest from bigger European clubs.

Liverpool

Subsequently, Josemi became Rafael Benítez's first signing as Liverpool manager, for £2 million in the summer of 2004. He played 15 games in the Premier League in his debut season and, after an initial run, he was sent off in the club's 4–2 victory at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

on 16 October 2004, his subsequent ban leading to

Steve Finnan Stephen John Finnan (born 24 April 1976) is an Irish former international footballer who played as a right back. He is the only player to have played in the World Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, Intertoto Cup, all four levels of the Engl ...

re-establishing himself as first-choice right-back. Josemi made seven appearances (five starts) in the Reds' victorious campaign in the UEFA Champions League, but struggled to make the substitutes bench in the knockout stages, and also lost his place in the first half of 2005–06, suggesting he would soon leave Anfield.

Return to Spain

On 29 December 2005, it was announced that Liverpool and Villarreal CF had agreed to swap Josemi and Jan Kromkamp in the January 2006 transfer window. He made a good start and appeared in 22 league matches in 2006–07, but only took part in only one the following season for the eventual La Liga runners-up. In July 2008, Josemi signed for

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

. He scored his first goal as a professional on 23 November, in a 2–2 home draw against former owners Málaga. In his second year he was challenged by new signing

Felipe Mattioni Felipe Mattioni Rohde (born 15 October 1988), known as Mattioni, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back. He also holds Italian citizenship, and spent most of his career with Espanyol, being hindered by several injuries ...

, but ended up contributing with 28 games as the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

side finished fifth and qualified for the UEFA Europa League.

Later years

At nearly 31, Josemi left Spain for the second time in August 2010, signing a three-year contract with Iraklis Thessaloniki FC. After only one season – which brought

Superleague 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 ...

relegation due to irregularities – however, he returned to his country and joined FC Cartagena in

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 ...

, on a two-year deal. On 21 August 2014, after two seasons in Greece with

Levadiakos F.C. Levadiakos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Λεβαδειακός) is a Greek professional Association football, football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Super League Greece, Alpha Et ...

and

Skoda Xanthi F.C. Xanthi Football Club ( el, Α.Ο. Ξάνθη Π.Α.Ε.) is a Greek professional football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace and plays at Xanthi FC Arena. The club resigned from the Super League 2 due to financial issues. Founded in 1967, Xan ...

respectively, Josemi was a third-round draft pick for Atlético de Kolkata in the inaugural draft of the Indian Super League draft. He made his debut in the competition in the opening match, starting a 3–0 home victory over

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

, and formed a formidable stopper partnership with Arnab Mondal during his first year, acting as team captain in the final win over the Kerala Blasters in the absence of countryman Luis García, where he also won the Fittest Player of the Match award. Following his successful debut season, on 12 June 2015 Josemi renewed his contract with Atlético for one more year. He was released on 13 November, after being ruled out for the remainder of the campaign due to injury. On 22 September 2016, after almost a year with a club, 36-year-old Josemi announced his retirement. In February 2017, he returned to Málaga as match delegate.

Club statistics

Honours

Málaga *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Liverpool * UEFA Champions League: 2004–05 * UEFA Super Cup:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

: Runner-up 2004–05 * FIFA Club World Championship runner-up:

Atlético Kolkata * Indian Super League:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

References

External links

* *
Liverpool historic profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Josemi 1979 births Living people People from Torremolinos Sportspeople from the Province of Málaga Spanish footballers Footballers from Andalusia Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Villarreal CF players RCD Mallorca players FC Cartagena footballers Premier League players Liverpool F.C. players Super League Greece players Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. players Levadiakos F.C. players Xanthi F.C. players Indian Super League players ATK (football club) players UEFA Champions League winning players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India