Miguel Marcos Madera (born 8 November 1985), commonly known as Míchel, 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

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Having been brought through the youth academy of

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

, he played with the first team of rivals

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

in both 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

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 ...

, before eventually leaving for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

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 January 2010. He spent the second half of 2010–11 on loan at

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

, before returning to Spain for a three-year spell with

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

. After a year with

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

, he signed for Qarabağ in 2015, with whom he won five consecutive

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 ...

titles and two

Azerbaijan Cup The Azerbaijan Cup () is a major association football competition in Azerbaijan. In its original form, it started in 1936, when Azerbaijan was a republic of the Soviet Union and it was not disputed by Azerbaijani teams in the Soviet league pyramid ...

s, as well as playing in

UEFA competitions UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. Th ...

. In 2020, he returned to Spanish football with

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 ...

club Marino Luanco, but retired in mid-season.

Playing career

Sporting Gijón

Born in

Lena, Asturias Lena ( Asturian: ''Ḷḷena'' ) is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It has a population of 12.000 inhabitants, while 9,200 of them live in the capital, Pola de Lena. Parishes Main sights * P ...

, Míchel emerged through

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

and transferred to

for the 2003–04 season. He helped Sporting's under-19 team win the Youth Champions Cup that year, and was named MVP of the final game. Míchel started his senior career in 2004, with the club's reserves. Subsequently, he progressed to the first team, competing in the

; he played 24 matches in the 2005–06 campaign and scored one goal, in a 4–0 away win against

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in . The club was founded in 1886 an ...

. In 2007–08, Míchel helped the Asturian club return to

after a ten-year absence. He was handed the vice-captaincy for the start of the following season, and made his debut in the top flight on 31 August 2008, playing 90 minutes in a 2–1 home defeat to

. He went on to appear in 30 matches, 24 as a starter, as Sporting avoided relegation on the last matchday.

Birmingham City

Speculation had linked Míchel with

, newly promoted to the English

, in the summer of 2009, but the transfer was not completed until 11 January 2010, for a fee of £3 million. The player signed a two-and-a-half-year deal, with an option to extend the contract for a further 12 months. Spanish journalist and

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

pundit

Guillem Balagué Guillem Ramón Antonio Balagué (born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish football journalist, author, and pundit. He was a regular pundit on Sky Sports' show ''Revista de la Liga'' and has also written for some of Britain's newspapers as well as seve ...

described him as a good passer of the ball, tactically aware and positionally disciplined, and "not scared of the physical side", comparing him in style to

Javier Mascherano Javier Alejandro Mascherano (; born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine Association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive ...

, but "with a better range of passing". Míchel made his first appearance in the Premier League on 27 January, replacing

James McFadden James Henry McFadden (born 14 April 1983) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who played as a forward who now works as a football pundit. McFadden started his playing career with Motherwell, where he came to prominence ...

in the 73rd minute as Birmingham's 15-game unbeaten run came to an end as they lost 3–0 to Chelsea at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in ...

, and made his home debut three days later, again as a substitute. However, the fitness and what manager

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps f ...

described as "stunning" form of

Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently caretaker manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Ferguson spent most of his playing career at Rangers, in two spells ei ...

in central midfield meant that Míchel was restricted to just nine league appearances, and he was made available for loan in the January 2011 transfer window. In January 2011, Míchel joined

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

on loan for the remainder of the season. He made his debut in a 2–0 away win against

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...

, and on his second appearance, scored a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

against Panathinaikos in the seventh minute of

stoppage time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the ga ...

to take his team through to the semi-finals of the

2010–11 Greek Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 4–3 on aggregate. AEK went on to win the competition, but Míchel was an unused substitute in the final.

Getafe

In August 2011, Míchel played his first 45 minutes for Birmingham in over six months, in a 1–0 pre-season friendly defeat of

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

. He then returned to La Liga with the Madrid-based Getafe for an undisclosed fee. On 6 November he scored his first goal for the club as, despite having only ten players, they came from behind to beat

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 ...

3–2. He himself was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

once in each of his three seasons: the first two were straight red cards in away defeats to local rivals

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 ...

, and the third was for a second booking in a 4–1 defeat to another team from the capital,

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 ...

. Míchel appeared in 60 competitive games, scoring once, during his three years with Getafe, and was released on 22 August 2014.

Maccabi Haifa

Míchel signed a one-year contract with

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

club

in September 2014. He made 25 appearances across the campaign, scoring his only goal on 14 December in a 4–0

Haifa derby The Haifa derby () is the name given to the football matches between Hapoel Haifa and Maccabi Haifa. As with any major football rivalry, gloating and banter between the two sets of fans is commonplace. This rivalry between those two club has a ...

win at rivals

Hapoel Hapoel (, ) is an Israeli Jewish sports association established in 1926 by the Histadrut Labor Federation. History During the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Palestine period Hapoel had a bitter rivalry with Maccabi World Union, Maccab ...

Qarabağ

Míchel signed a two-year contract with Qarabağ of the

just ahead of the summer 2015 transfer deadline, and in time to be included in their

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

squad. He appeared regularly in his first year as Qarabağ won a third consecutive championship, and scored four times in five

tiesincluding a goal in the last minute of extra time to decide the final against Neftchi Bakuas his team completed a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

. He played in 40 matches in all competitions to help Qarabağ achieve another double in the 2016–17 season, at the end of which his contract was extended for a further two years. Míchel played every minute of Qarabağ's six 2017–18 Champions League qualifiers as they became the first team from Azerbaijan to reach the group stage of the competition. On 7 June 2019, Míchel signed another two-year contract with Qarabağ. On 17 July 2020, Míchel left Qarabağ by mutual consent.

Marino de Luanco

On 5 October 2020, Míchel came back to Asturias, after agreeing terms with third-tier club

Marino de Luanco Club Marino de Luanco is a Spanish football team based in Luanco, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1931 it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Miramar'', with a capacity of 3,500 seats. History Marino Luanco was founde ...

. He played eight matches in the

before, in March 2021, he announced his retirement because of physical issues.

Career statistics

Honours

AEK Athens *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Qarabağ *

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 *

: 2015–16, 2016–17

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Michel 1985 births Living people People from Lena, Asturias Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Asturias Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Sporting de Gijón B players Sporting de Gijón players Getafe CF footballers Premier League players Birmingham City F.C. players Super League Greece players AEK Athens F.C. players Israeli Premier League players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Azerbaijan Premier League players Qarabağ FK players Marino de Luanco footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan 21st-century Spanish sportsmen