Claudio Giráldez González (born 24 February 1988) is a Spanish professional

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 Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former player. He is the current manager of

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 ...

club

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, 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), the club was foun ...

Playing career

Born in

O Porriño O Porriño is a municipality in the province of Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Vigo. As an industrial town in the Vigo metropolitan area, it has an important economic significance. One ...

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

, Galicia, Giráldez joined

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

's youth setup in 2001, from hometown side Porriño Industrial. He made his senior debut with the C-team during the 2006–07 season, in

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. In 2007, after one appearance with Real's reserves 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 ...

, Giráldez moved to cross-town rivals

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 ...

and was assigned to the B-team also in the third division. Giráldez returned to his home region in 2009, joining fellow third tier side

. He signed for

Ourense Ourense (; ) is a city and the capital of the province of province of Ourense, Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path o ...

in the fourth level on 28 July 2011, helping in their promotion to the third division in his first season; he left the latter club in May 2013. On 17 June 2013, Giráldez agreed to a deal with Coruxo in the third level. After being sparingly used during the campaign, he returned to his first club Porriño in 2014, where he scored a career-best eight goals during the 2015–16 season. Giráldez helped Porriño in their promotion to the fourth division in 2018, and retired in the following year, aged 31.

Managerial career

In 2015, while still a player, Giráldez was also named manager of Porriño Industrial's ''Juvenil'' squad. In the following year, he joined

Celta CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL and EFL). It is provided by Cambridge Assessment English through authorised Cambridge English Teaching Qualification centres and can be ...

's structure, and was a manager of their ''Cadete B'', ''Cadete A'' and ''Juvenil B'' squads. On 27 June 2019, Giráldez was named in charge of Gran Peña, Celta's

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

, and also remained manager of their ''Juvenil B'' team. On 10 August 2021, he was appointed manager of the ''Juvenil División de Honor'' squad. On 2 July 2022, Giráldez replaced

Onésimo Sánchez Onésimo Sánchez González (born 14 August 1968), known simply as Onésimo as a player, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a winger, currently a manager. He was mainly associated with Real Valladolid throughout h ...

at the helm of Celta's B-team; the club officially announced his new role ten days later. In his first season in charge of the B's, he led them to the play-offs, losing in the semi-finals to eventual winners Eldense. On 12 March 2024, Giráldez was named manager of Celta's first team, replacing

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He was most recently the manager of La Liga club RC Celta de Vigo, Celta Vigo. Beníte ...

. His first professional match in charge occurred five days later, as his side won 2–1 at

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Giraldez, Claudio 1988 births Living people Footballers from O Porriño Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Madrid C footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Atlético Madrid B players Pontevedra CF footballers Pontevedra CF B footballers CD Ourense footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Primera Federación managers RC Celta Fortuna managers RC Celta de Vigo managers RC Celta de Vigo non-playing staff 21st-century Spanish sportsmen