Bruno Saltor Grau (; born 1 October 1980), known simply as Bruno, is a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who played as a

right-back 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 is currently assistant head coach of

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. He began his professional career with Espanyol, and went on to appear in 128

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 ...

matches, all but one of which were with

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 ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. In 2012 he signed with

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, going on to spend seven years with the English club and also acting as its

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He served as caretaker head coach of Chelsea for one match against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 4 April 2023. He was replaced by

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...

as interim manager for the rest of the season.

Playing career

Spain

Born in

El Masnou ; ) is a municipality in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the coast between Montgat and Premià de Mar, to the north-east of the city of Barcelona, in the ''comarca'' (county) of el Maresme. The town is both a tour ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Bruno was a product of Espanyol's youth system. He appeared only once for the first team, playing eight minutes in a 3–1 home win over

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

on 29 September 2001; he was used almost exclusively by the B-side during his tenure, spending three of his four years in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. After a further two stints in his native region, with Gimnàstic (loan) and

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

, Bruno joined

in the summer of 2006, being instrumental in the

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 ...

side's first ever promotion to

as a late bloomer. In 2007–08, he missed only four league games as his team overachieved for a final eighth place, and produced similar numbers in the following season. In mid-June 2009, Bruno signed a three-year deal with

and reunited with former Almería manager

Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa. He is widely regarded as o ...

. He had previously arranged a transfer to

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

, but the move collapsed as the club was eventually relegated.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 25 June 2012, after a further 33 league appearances for Valencia in two seasons combined,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Bruno signed a two-year contract for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club

. He scored his first goal for his new team on 24 November, in a 1–1 draw at home to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. At the age of 35/36, Bruno was still the automatic first choice in his position, helping the club gain promotion to the

at the end of the 2016–17 campaign after 34 years. Previously, in March 2017, the

agreed to a one-year contract extension, and on 20 April he was included in the Championship Team of the Year for the second year running. Bruno made his debut in the English top flight on 12 August 2017, playing the whole of a 2–0 home loss to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. On 3 April 2018, he signed a new one-year deal. Two weeks later, he made his first league start since January, at home to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in a 1–1 draw that gave his team "a big point" in their fight against relegation, and remained in the side for the 1–0 home win against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

that ensured their safety, to which the player contributed with 25 appearances (26 overall). A

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury during the opening match of 2018–19 lost Bruno his place to fellow Spaniard Martín Montoya. Despite his return to the side in early October coinciding with three consecutive winning

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

s, it proved short-lived. He played in the early rounds of the 2018–19 FA Cup, but not in the quarter-final or semi-final, and started five of the last six league matches as Brighton narrowly avoided relegation. On 10 May 2019, Bruno announced his retirement at the end of the season. He started the 4–1 defeat at home to Manchester City that confirmed their second consecutive Premier League title, and ended his post-match speech of appreciation and farewell with the words "Once a Seagull, always a Seagull".

Coaching career

In June 2019, Bruno was appointed as a senior player development coach at his former club

. On 8 September 2022, Bruno followed

Graham Potter Graham Stephen Potter (born 20 May 1975) is an English professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager who is the head coach of Premier League club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United. In a 13-year playing ...

on a move to Chelsea. On 2 April 2023, following Potter's departure from the club, Bruno was named as caretaker head coach. Bruno managed the team for one match, a 0–0 draw against

at Stamford Bridge. Former Chelsea head coach and player

took his place as interim head coach for the rest of the season. He left the club on 25 September 2023. On 9 January 2025, following Potter's appointment as head coach, Bruno joined Premier League club

as assistant head coach.

Career statistics

Honours

Lleida *

: 2003–04 Brighton & Hove Albion *

runner-up: 2016–17 Individual * The Football League Team of the Season: 2015–16 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 2015–16 Championship, 2016–17 Championship

Notes

References

External links

CiberChe biography and stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruno 1980 births Living people People from El Masnou Footballers from the Province of Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers UE Lleida players UD Almería players Valencia CF players Premier League players English Football League players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. non-playing staff Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Catalonia men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff] West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff 21st-century Spanish sportsmen