Hugo Díaz Rodríguez (born 9 February 1997), known as Hugo Díaz (), is a Spanish 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 lea ...

who plays a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for Gimnástica Segoviana. He can also play as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Early career

Díaz started his career at

Deportivo La Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

youth academy, graduating to Depor Juvenil A and then the

Deportivo de La Coruña B Real Club Deportivo Fabril, previously known as ''Deportivo B'', is the reserve team of Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña, it is based in A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It currently plays in , holding home games at Cidade Dep ...

team, in January 2017 he then had a loan spell at

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

based team

Silva SD Silva Sociedad Deportiva is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded on 6 June 1940 it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Campo de Fútb ...

Leeds United

On 18 August 2017, he joined

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

from Deportivo, initially linking up with the Leeds Under 23s squad. In the Under 23s he formed a central defence partnership with

Paudie O'Connor Padhraic John O'Connor (born 14 July 1997) is an Irish professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Reading F.C., Reading. Early life O'Connor was born in Limerick. Club career Limerick O'Connor made his pr ...

. On 10 April 2018, after an injury crisis to Leeds' first team defenders, Díaz was promoted to Leeds' first team and named as a substitute in their

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 ...

game against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. Díaz made his debut for Leeds in the same game coming on early in the second half for injured centre back

Pontus Jansson Pontus Sven Gustav Jansson (; born 13 February 1991) is a Swedish professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Malmö FF. Jansson started his career with local club Malmö FF before moving to Italy to join Torino ...

, partnering his usual Under 23 teammate Paudie O'Connor for the first team in a 1–3 loss. On 8 May, he was named in Leeds' first team squad by Head Coach

Paul Heckingbottom Paul Heckingbottom (born 17 July 1977) is an English football coach and former player who is the manager of EFL Championship club Preston North End. After retiring as a player, Heckingbottom trained as a coach. He obtained a position with Barn ...

for their post season friendlies tour to

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. He featured in Leeds' first team during the 2018/19 pre season under new head coach

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning 'The Madman Bielsa'; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional Association football, football manager who is the current manager of the Uruguay national football team ...

. He made his first appearance for Leeds' first team of pre-season in the friendly match 1–1 draw against

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

on 20 July 2018 He was named in the first team squad again on 6 January 2019, when he was an unused subsistute during a 2–1 defeat to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. Díaz captained the Leeds United 23s side over the course of the 2018/19 season, that won the PDL Northern League 2018/19 Season by winning the league, they then became the national

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

Champions by beating

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

in the final. On 22 June 2019, Díaz announced on his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

page that the club had released him.

Getafe

On 25 July 2019, Díaz joined

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 ...

side

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

on a free transfer from Leeds United, being assigned to the B-team 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 ...

. Diaz was released by Getafe CF in July 2020

Korona Kielce

On 13 November 2020, Díaz was signed by

I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

side

Korona Kielce Korona Kielce (, Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish professional football club based in Kielce, competing in Ekstraklasa in the 2025–26 season. From 2002 to ...

Career statistics

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Díaz, Hugo 1997 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from A Coruña Men's association football defenders Segunda Federación players Tercera División players English Football League players I liga players Deportivo Fabril players Leeds United F.C. players Getafe CF B players Korona Kielce players Salamanca CF UDS players Bergantiños FC players Gimnástica Segoviana CF footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland 21st-century Spanish sportsmen