Manuel Jesús Arana Rodríguez (born 3 December 1984) is a Spanish former

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 played as a

right winger 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. ...

. He played 75

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 over four seasons, totalling seven goals for

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

and

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 ...

. He added 164 appearances and 33 goals in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, and also competed professionally in Australia, India and Gibraltar.

Club career

Arana was born in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

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 ...

. After not being able to reach the first team at

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 ...

in his hometown he signed with

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Nou E ...

, where he would first appear professionally in 2006–07's

, playing one game; in the following two seasons, also at that level, he proceeded to be used regularly. In June 2009, Arana moved to

with

, on a four-year contract. He made his debut in the competition on 30 August in a 1–4 home loss against

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 ...

, and scored in his third match for a 2–1 win at

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

, going on to net three more goals in the league (totalling 1,749 minutes) as the side from

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

managed to retain their league status. Arana terminated his contract with Racing in late August 2012, following the club's top-flight relegation. Four days later, he signed a two-year deal with

of the same league. On 7 July 2014, Arana left

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

and joined

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

also in division two, for two years. On 30 September 2016 the 31-year-old moved abroad for the first time in his career, after being confirmed as the third visa player signing by

Brisbane Roar FC Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

for the 2016–17 season. On 12 July 2017, Arana switched clubs and countries again, signing for

FC Goa Futebol Clube de Goa is an India, Indian professional association football, football club based in Fatorda, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of Football in India, Indian football. The club was established on 2 ...

. He scored his debut goal for them on 25 November, but in a 2–1 away defeat to

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is part of the City Football Group. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of the Ind ...

. On 31 January 2018, he was loaned to fellow

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

team

Delhi Dynamos FC Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

until March.

Career statistics

Honours

Europa * Gibraltar Cup:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual *

Segunda División Player of the Month The Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best Segunda División player for each month of the season. Winners Multiple winners The following table lists the number of awards won by players who have won at leas ...

: October 2013

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arana, Manuel 1984 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Seville Men's association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers CD Castellón B players CD Castellón footballers Racing de Santander players Rayo Vallecano players Recreativo de Huelva players RCD Mallorca players CD Utrera players A-League Men players Brisbane Roar FC players Indian Super League players FC Goa players Odisha FC players Gibraltar Premier Division players Europa F.C. players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in India Expatriate men's footballers in Gibraltar Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Gibraltar 21st-century Spanish sportsmen