Juan Jesús Gutiérrez Robles (born 17 February 1980), known as Juanito, is a Spanish retired 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 lea ...

who played mainly as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Over the course of nine seasons, he amassed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 218 games and four goals, mainly with

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

(five years) and

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

(three). He also played abroad in Greece late into his career.

Club career

Juanito was born in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

. Earlier a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he grew through the ranks of hometown's

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

, making his

debut on 1 September 2002 in a 3–2 away win against neighbours

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

. He then spent one season each with

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

and

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, with both teams eventually being relegated to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. Juanito joined

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, 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 ...

in 2007–08, where he was successfully reconverted into a

, being an important first-team member over two top-flight campaigns. In August 2009 he returned to Málaga, replacing Lolo, a player who occupied his same positions and had returned from his loan to neighbouring

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

. Juanito's first game in his second spell was on 2009–10's opener, starting in a 3–0 home victory over

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. He finished the season with 30 matches – 25 starts – as the side narrowly avoided relegation after a 17th-place. In December 2010, shortly after the arrival of manager

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed clubs in S ...

, Juanito was deemed surplus to requirements alongside five other players. On 4 January 2011 he was released by Málaga with

Albert Luque Albert Luque Martos (born 11 March 1978) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left winger or striker. His 14-year professional career was mainly associated with Mallorca and Deportivo, and he amassed La Liga totals of 248 matches a ...

and, 11 days later, he returned to former club Almería, signing a five-month contract. Juanito made his competitive debut on 19 January 2011, in a 3–2 win at

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

(4–2 on aggregate) which meant the side reached the semi-finals of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

for the first time ever. In July, after they were relegated from the top tier, he was released, going on to spend two years in the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

with

Asteras Tripolis F.C. Asteras Tripolis Football Club (), currently known as Asteras AKTOR for sponsorship reasons, commonly referred to as Asteras, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in the city of Tripoli, Greece, Tripoli in Arcadia (re ...

and retire afterwards, aged 33. On 14 June 2016, Juanito returned to Almería as

Fernando Soriano Fernando Soriano Marco (born 24 September 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He spent most of his 19-year career with Almería, totalling ten seasons in two different spells. In La Liga, where ...

's assistant manager.Juanito se convierte en el segundo entrenador de la UD Almería (Juanito becomes the assistant manager of UD Almería)
UD Almería, 14 June 2016 (in Spanish)

Honours

Málaga *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Juanito 1980 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Málaga Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players La Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Deportivo Alavés players Real Sociedad footballers UD Almería players Super League Greece players Asteras Tripolis F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece