José Manuel "Manel" Martínez Bel (born 25 March 1992) is a Spanish

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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Born in

Cabrera de Mar Cabrera de Mar () is a municipality of the ''comarca'' of Maresme in Catalonia, Spain. It is located next to the Català mediterranean coast, between the municipalities of Vilassar de Mar and Mataró, although the urban centre is at about inla ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Manel finished his formation with

UE Cornellà Unión Esportiva Cornellà, S. A. D. ( ca, Unió Esportiva Cornellà) is a Spanish football team based in Cornellà de Llobregat, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1951 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding ...

. He made his senior debut for the club in 2011, and subsequently moved to CD Masnou. In 2012, after a short period at

CE Europa Club Esportiu Europa is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in the city of Barcelona in the district of Gràcia, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1907, it plays in the Segunda División RFEF, Segunda ...

, Manel moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

's team

VCU Rams The VCU Rams are the athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The Rams compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The most succe ...

while studying. On 17 June 2013, he signed for

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

club

RVA FC Fredericksburg FC is an American soccer team based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1986, the team plays in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the United States socce ...

, being crowned champions with the side. In January 2015 Manel returned to his homeland, signing for CE Sabadell FC B still in the fourth division. He renewed his contract until 2017 on 16 June, and after scoring 13 goals in only 18 matches, was promoted to the main squad on 31 December; he also extended his contract for a further season. On 22 July 2016 Manel joined

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 ...

side

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs. Girona holds its home matches at ...

, but was loaned to

UE Llagostera C.F. Badalona Futur S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Badalona, Barcelona, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Founded in 1947, it currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group 3. Its home stadium is ''Estadi Municipal'', wit ...

in the third tier on 18 August, for one year. After scoring 14 goals for the latter he joined

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lorca, Spain, Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in the Region of ...

on loan the following 15 May, and helped the club in the play-offs as it achieved promotion to the second division for the first time ever. Manel made his professional debut on 18 August 2017, starting in a 2–0 home win against

Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa (), better known as Cultural Leonesa or La Cultural, is a Spanish football team based in León, in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. Founded on 5 August 1923, it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

. The following 11 January he cut ties with the club, returning to Girona and being immediately assigned to the reserves in the third division. On 17 July 2018, Manel signed for

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

still in the third tier. In the following season, Manel joined

Marbella FC Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a Spanish football team based in Marbella, the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1997 it currently plays in Tercera Federación – Group 9 (the 5th level of the ...

Personal life

Manel is the son of former

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

defender

Manolo Manolo, a form of Manuel (name), is a male given name which may refer to: People: * Manolo Álvarez Mera (1923–1986), Cuban-born bel canto tenor *Manolo Badrena (born 1952), Puerto Rican percussionist *Manolo Blahnik (born 1942), Spanish fashion ...

Honours

;RVA FC *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Manel 1992 births Living people People from Selva Footballers from the Province of Girona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Segunda División players Primera Federación players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CF Damm players UE Cornellà players CD Masnou players CE Europa footballers CE Sabadell FC B players CE Sabadell FC footballers CF Peralada players CF Badalona Futur players Lorca FC players Real Murcia players Marbella FC players CD Atlético Baleares footballers Racing de Ferrol footballers VCU Rams men's soccer players National Premier Soccer League players Fredericksburg FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States