José Ángel Pozo la Rosa (born 15 March 1996) 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 an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for

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 Lig ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Fuengirola Fuengirola (), in ancient times known as Suel and then Suhayl, is a large town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located on the central coast of the pr ...

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 ...

, Pozo started his football career at UD Fuengirola Los Boliches and was scouted by

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 ...

at the age of 11 to play for its youth set-up. He played for Real Madrid for five years before

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

paid £2.4 million to sign him in early 2012. The deal also brought over Pozo's younger brother Iker to play for Manchester City at academy level.

Manchester City

Playing for the English club's under-18s side, his first full season in England was impressive, netting him a nomination for Academy Player of the Year but his second season was cut short early by an ankle injury which limited him to just nine appearances for 2013–14. Nevertheless, he made a strong recovery and rejoined the Elite Development Side under

Patrick Vieira Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Vieira began his career at ...

, where he rapidly drew attention, earning himself the label of "Mini-Messi". Pozo's first exposure to first team football came on 24 September 2014, when injuries to squad mates

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest play ...

and Stevan Jovetić left him as the club's second most senior striker for the club's

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 ...

third round match at home against

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 of ...

. Named as a substitute amidst a flurry of national press attention following comments by manager

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Lúis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed teams in Spain, England, Argentina, Chile, China and Ecuador. ...

on the possibility of his appearing, Pozo was brought on in the 64th minute for

Yaya Touré Gnégnéri Yaya Touré (born 13 May 1983) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is an academy coach for Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. Touré aspired to be a striker during his yout ...

, with City already 4–0 up against ten men, making his first senior appearance for the club. He recorded his first senior goal in the 88th minute, the sixth of a 7–0 win. Pozo made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

debut on 3 December 2014 against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

, coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute for

Samir Nasri Samir Nasri (born 26 June 1987) is a French former professional footballer. He primarily played as an attacking midfielder and a winger, although he had also been deployed in central midfield. Nasri was known for his dribbling, ball control ...

in a 4–1 win. On 13 December, Pozo made his first start for Manchester City, in a 1–0 away win over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. He had been promoted from the substitutes' bench after

Edin Džeko Edin Džeko (; born 17 March 1986) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan and captains the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Džeko was named Bosnian Footballer of the Year for three years in a ...

was injured during warm-up.

Almería

On 31 August 2015, Pozo moved to

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 ...

of his native

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

on a five-year contract. On 6 September he made his debut for the club, coming on as a late substitute for

Eldin Hadžić Eldin Hadžić (born 14 October 1991) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays for Spanish club CF Intercity as a left winger. Early years Hadžić was born in the village of Ključ, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Socialist Federal ...

in a 2–1 home win against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El Sa ...

; he also scored the winner in the 88th minute. On 2 December 2015, Pozo scored the only goal for his team in a 3–1 home loss against

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...

in 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 ...

Rayo Vallecano

On 27 July 2018, Pozo signed a five-year contract with

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 ...

side

. He made his debut for the club on 19 August, starting in a 4–1 home loss against

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

. On 5 January 2022, Pozo renewed his contract with Rayo until 2024, and joined Al Ahli SC on loan for the remainder of 2021–22 Qatar Stars League season.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pozo, Jose Angel 1996 births Living people People from Fuengirola Sportspeople from the Province of Málaga Spanish footballers Footballers from Andalusia Association football forwards Premier League players La Liga players Segunda División players Qatar Stars League players Manchester City F.C. players UD Fuengirola Los Boliches players UD Almería players Rayo Vallecano players Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate footballers in Qatar