Gerard López Segú (; born 12 March 1979), usually known as just Gerard, is a Spanish former 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 ...

, and a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. An all-around

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 boundarie ...

, he was known for precision passes and ball control skills. During his career, he played for several clubs including

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 ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, helping the latter reach the 2000 Champions League final. Over nine seasons, Gerard 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 183 matches and 16 goals. He participated with

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

at Euro 2000.

Club career

Barcelona and Valencia

Born in

Granollers Granollers () is a city in central Catalonia, about 30 kilometres north-east of Barcelona. It is the capital and most densely populated city in the comarca of Vallès Oriental. Granollers is now a bustling business centre, having grown from a t ...

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 no ...

, Gerard began his career in the

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

youth system and, in the 1996–97 season, made his professional debut with its B-team. As a 17-year-old he was signed by

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the S ...

, making his

debut on 31 August 1997 in a 1–2 away loss against

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

(90 minutes played); for the 1998–99 campaign he was loaned to

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 ...

, which had returned to the top flight after a four-decade absence. After a breakout season with the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous c ...

side, scoring seven goals, Gerard returned to Valencia, helping them

reach Reach or REACH may refer to: Companies and organizations * Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror, large British newspaper, magazine, and digital publisher * Reach Canada, an NGO in Canada * Reach Limited, an Asia Pacific cable network company * ...

the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. During this time with the ''Che'', he came to be regarded as one of the top players in Spain and, after receiving interest from several top clubs in Europe, including

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

, A.C. Milan and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, he decided to join his former club Barcelona in July 2000, in a deal worth €24 million. When he scored three goals against Lazio on 5 April 2000, he become the youngest player in football history who scored goal at knock out stages of Champions League. Gerard would go on to appear regularly for the team during his five-year second spell, although never an undisputed starter. Injuries also began to curtail his career.

Monaco and retirement

After leaving ''Barça'' with the 2005 national championship, Gerard moved abroad, playing two unassuming seasons with France's

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Fren ...

, also being severely injured. He returned to Spain for 2007–08, with top level's

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 ...

. After rejecting a move to

PAOK FC P.A.O.K. FC ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, '' Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstadinoupolitón'', "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athlet ...

, Gerard trained for a few months with lowly EC Granollers, in '' Preferent Territorial de Catalunya''. In mid-February 2009 he moved back to Catalonia, joining

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 ...

until the end of the second division campaign; shortly after arriving he was injured again, but managed to net four times in only six Segunda División games.

International career

After a spectacular 1999–00 season with Valencia, on both fronts, Gerard received his first cap for

on 3 June 2000, in a 1–1

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with Sweden in Gothenburg. He went on to play in a further five matches, being selected for

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

Coaching career

In October 2013, Gerard replaced

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

as manager of

. On 22 July 2015, he was appointed at Barcelona B after their

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open league ...

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, 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 Fo ...

. At the end of the 2016–17 season, Gerard coached his team back to the second level. Subsequently, he renewed his contract for another year. On 25 April 2018, with the side placed inside the relegation zone, Gerard was relieved of his duties.

Personal life

Gerard's older brothers, Sergi and Julià López Segú (commonly known as Juli, born 1969), were also footballers, and

defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: *Defense (military) *Defense (sports) **Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...

. The former, who also represented Barcelona, died by suicide at 39. The latter played almost exclusively for ''Barça'' B whilst they were in the second tier, also having a brief top flight spell (13 matches) with

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

, in 1993–94.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gerard goal.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Valencia *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

runner-up: 1999–2000 Barcelona *

: 2004–05

References

External links

FC Barcelona official profile
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard Lopez 1979 births Living people People from Granollers Sportspeople from the Province of Barcelona Spanish footballers Footballers from Catalonia Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Valencia CF players Deportivo Alavés players Recreativo de Huelva players Girona FC players Ligue 1 players AS Monaco FC players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain international footballers UEFA Euro 2000 players Catalonia international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Monaco Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers FC Barcelona Atlètic managers