Mikel Álvaro Salazar (born 20 December 1982) 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 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. ...

Club career

Álvaro was born in

Amurrio Amurrio is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the northwest part of the province of Álava, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, northern Spain. It has over 10,000 inhabitants. It is between Vitori ...

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

. After spending most of his career in the

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 ...

or lower, mainly with hometown's

Amurrio Club Amurrio Club is a Spanish football team based in Amurrio, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1949, it currently plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Basarte'', with a 4,000-seater capacity. It is a partner club of t ...

, he arrived at already 27 at

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

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 ...

. His first game in the competition occurred on 29 August 2009, as he played one minute in a 2–1 away win against

RC Celta de 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 fou ...

. Already as a starter, he scored his first goal as a professional, in a 1–0 home victory over

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

. In early August 2011, Álvaro terminated his contract with the

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...

club, going on to spend the following two seasons in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

with

FC Dinamo Tbilisi FC Dinamo Tbilisi ( ka, დინამო თბილისი, ) is a Georgian professional football club based in Tbilisi that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top flight of Georgian football. Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the most prom ...

, where he shared teams with several compatriots. In the summer of 2013, he joined

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

side

Inter Baku PIK Shamakhi FK (, ) is an Azerbaijani professional football club based in Shamakhi, that currently competes in the Azerbaijan Premier League. The club has won the Premier League title twice. History Early years (1997–2004) The club has been func ...

on a two-year deal. Álvaro left

Auckland City FC Auckland City Football Club is an association football club based in the suburb of Sandringham, New Zealand, Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Northern League (New Zealand), Northern League. Auckland City have ...

in January 2016, and rejoined Dinamo Tbilisi later that month. He returned to both his homeland and his native region on 16 January 2017, signing for third-tier SD Amorebieta and helping to a first-ever promotion to the professional leagues at the end of the 2020–21 campaign. Álvaro retired in June 2023 aged 40, following short spells in the lower leagues with

Club Portugalete Club Portugalete is a List of football clubs in Spain, Basque football team based in Portugalete, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it plays in , holding its home games in the '' ...

and

CD Laredo Club Deportivo Laredo is a Spanish football team based in Laredo, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded in 1918, it plays in , holding home matches at ''Campo de Fútbol San Lorenzo'', which has a capacity of 2,500. History CD Lared ...

Career statistics

Honours

Dinamo Tbilisi *

Erovnuli Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა; ) is the top Division (sport), division of professional top tier Association football, football in Georgia (Country), Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional ...

: 2012–13, 2015–16 *

Georgian Cup The Georgian Cup ( ka, საქართველოს თასი) is the main annual association football knockout cup competition in Georgia. It is organized by the Georgian Football Federation (GFF) and is open to clubs of all divisions. Th ...

: 2012–13, 2015–16

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvaro, Mikel 1982 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Álava Men's association football wingers Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Segunda Federación players Tercera Federación players CD Aurrerá de Vitoria footballers SD Indautxu footballers Amurrio Club footballers Barakaldo CF footballers CD Dénia footballers UE Lleida players CD Numancia players SD Amorebieta footballers Club Portugalete players Erovnuli Liga players FC Dinamo Tbilisi players Azerbaijan Premier League players Shamakhi FK players New Zealand Football Championship players Auckland City FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Georgia (country) Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Georgia (country) Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Spanish expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand