Juanito (footballer, born 1980)

Juan Jesús Gutiérrez Robles (born 17 February 1980), known as Juanito, is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as a defensive midfielder.

Juanito
Personal information
Full name Juan Jesús Gutiérrez Robles
Date of birth (1980-02-17) 17 February 1980
Place of birth Málaga, Spain
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
Málaga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2003 Málaga B 52 (6)
2002–2005 Málaga 47 (2)
2005–2006 Alavés 37 (0)
2006–2007 Real Sociedad 28 (1)
2007–2009 Almería 61 (1)
2009–2011 Málaga 36 (0)
2011 Almería 9 (0)
2011–2013 Asteras Tripolis 21 (0)
Total 291 (10)
Teams managed
2016–2017 Almería (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Over the course of nine seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 218 games and four goals, mainly with Málaga (five years) and Almería (three). He also played abroad in Greece late into his career.

Club career

Juanito was born in Málaga, Andalusia. Earlier a central defender, he grew through the ranks of hometown's Málaga CF, making his La Liga debut on 1 September 2002 in a 3–2 away win against neighbours Recreativo de Huelva.[1] He then spent one season each with Deportivo Alavés and Real Sociedad, with both teams eventually being relegated to Segunda División.

Juanito joined UD Almería in 2007–08, where he was successfully reconverted into a defensive midfielder, being an important first-team member over two top-flight campaigns. In August 2009 he returned to Málaga, replacing Lolo, a player who occupied his same positions and had returned from his loan to neighbouring Sevilla FC.[2]

Juanito's first game in his second spell was on 2009–10's opener, starting in a 3–0 home victory over Atlético Madrid.[3] He finished the season with 30 matches – 25 starts – as the side narrowly avoided relegation, after a 17th-place.

In December 2010, shortly after the arrival of manager Manuel Pellegrini, Juanito was deemed surplus to requirements alongside five other players.[4] On 4 January 2011 he was released by Málaga with Albert Luque[5] and, 11 days later, he returned to former club Almería, signing a five-month contract.[6]

Juanito made his competitive debut on 19 January 2011, in a 3–2 win at Deportivo de La Coruña (4–2 on aggregate) which meant the side reached the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey for the first time ever.[7] In July, after they were relegated from the top tier, he was released, going on to spend two years in the Super League Greece with Asteras Tripolis F.C. and retire afterwards, aged 33.

On 14 June 2016, Juanito returned to Almería as Fernando Soriano's assistant manager.[8]

Honours

Málaga

References
  1. El Málaga redescubre a un Musampa goleador (Málaga rediscover scoring Musampa); El Mundo, 2 September 2002 (in Spanish)
  2. Juanito regresa a La Rosaleda y mañana será presentado (Juanito returns to La Rosaleda and will be presented tomorrow); Málaga CF, 3 August 2009 (in Spanish)
  3. Málaga 3–0 Atlético Madrid; ESPN Soccernet, 30 August 2009
  4. "Edu Ramos, Galatto, Luque, Iván González, Juanito y Edinho no cuentan para Pellegrini" [Edu Ramos, Galatto, Luque, Iván González, Juanito and Edinho do not count for Pellegrini] (in Spanish). Marca. 25 December 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  5. Acuerdo de desvinculación entre Málaga Club de Fútbol y Juanito (Málaga CF and Juanito agree on rescision) Archived 8 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine; Málaga CF, 4 January 2011 (in Spanish)
  6. Juanito regresa al Almería y se convierte en el primer fichaje del mercado de invierno (Juanito returns to Almería and becomes first winter market signing) Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine; UD Almería, 15 January 2011 (in Spanish)
  7. El Almería se niega a despertar del sueño (Almería refuse to awake from dream); Marca, 19 January 2011 (in Spanish)
  8. Juanito se convierte en el segundo entrenador de la UD Almería (Juanito becomes the assistant manager of UD Almería); UD Almería, 14 June 2016 (in Spanish)
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