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 ...

who played mainly as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. Over the course of nine seasons, he amassed

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' ...

totals of 218 games and four goals, mainly with Málaga (five years) 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 ...

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

Club career

Juanito was born in Málaga,

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost 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 "historical nationality". The t ...

. Earlier a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he grew through the ranks of hometown's Málaga CF, 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 Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

. He then spent one season each with

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

and Real Sociedad, with both teams eventually being relegated to the Segunda División. Juanito joined

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 ...

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 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 E ...

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

, 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 Association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), left winger or striker (association football), striker. His 14-year professional career was mainly ass ...

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 (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

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

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 with Asteras Tripolis F.C. and retire afterwards, aged 33. On 14 June 2016, Juanito returned to Almería as Fernando Soriano'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: 2002

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Juanito 1980 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Málaga Association football defenders Association football midfielders 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 footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece