Álvaro Negredo Sánchez (; born 20 August 1985) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Cádiz as a striker.
Nicknamed La fiera de Vallecas (The beast of Vallecas), he amassed totals of 354 matches and 128 goals over 11 La Liga seasons, for Almería, Sevilla, Valencia and Cádiz, while winning the Copa del Rey with the second of those teams in 2010. Abroad, he played in the Premier League for Manchester City – lifting the league and League Cup in 2014 – and Middlesbrough, as well as representing Beşiktaş in Turkey and Al-Nasr in the United Arab Emirates.
Negredo earned 21 caps for Spain, scoring ten goals and being part of the team that won Euro 2012.
Club career
Real Madrid
Born in Madrid, Negredo started his career at Rayo Vallecano, making his professional debut in early 2005 with the club in the Segunda División B. In the middle of the year he moved to another side in the country's capital, Real Madrid affiliate Real Madrid Castilla.
Negredo developed as a striker in his last season, scoring 18 league goals, although he could not prevent Castilla's drop from Segunda División. He did manage to impress first-team coach Fabio Capello and was called up for a few games in the Copa del Rey, but remained an unused substitute.
Almería
In July 2007, Negredo was sold to La Liga newcomers UD Almería, with Real Madrid having an option to buy him back. He made his top flight debut on 26 August in a 3–0 shock win at Deportivo de La Coruña. on 2 February 2008, he scored from the penalty spot in a 2–0 home defeat of his former team and, on 19 April, he added two – after having missed a penalty kick – in a 4–1 away victory over UEFA Cup and Spanish Cup holders Sevilla FC.
Negredo finished the campaign as Almería's top scorer with 13 goals, as the Andalusian side finished eighth. In 2008–09 he scored five in the team's first six matches, including a 95th-minute winner against neighbours Recreativo de Huelva (1–0) on 28 September 2008. In February of the following year he scored twice against Valencia CF in a 3–2 away loss, which took his league tally to ten, and finished with 19.
Return to Real Madrid
Real Madrid exercised their buyback option of a reported €5 million on Negredo in June 2009, and the player returned to training with the club on 10 July. In the pre-season, he scored the fourth goal against L.D.U. Quito in a 4–2 win in the Peace Cup.
Negredo had been tipped to join Real Zaragoza or Hull City in summer 2009, but finally decided to sign a reported five-year deal with Sevilla for €15 million, with Real Madrid having an option to buy the player back in the first two years. New manager Manuel Pellegrini could not guarantee him first-team football with the likes of Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuaín, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo in the squad, and subsequently advised him to leave and join Sevilla in order to fulfill his potential; Negredo later revealed his admiration for Pellegrini's honesty.
Sevilla
Negredo made his debut for Sevilla on 30 August 2009, coming as a substitute in the 55th minute of a 2–0 away loss to Valencia. Two weeks later he scored his first goal, at CA Osasuna in a 2–0 win.
A starter throughout most of 2009–10, with Luís Fabiano and Frédéric Kanouté fighting for the other striker berth, Negredo's first year was highly irregular. He suffered a scoring drought that lasted (in the league alone) 12 games, only ending on 2 May 2010 in a 3–1 home win against Atlético Madrid, his two goals coming from penalties (he had already lost his starting position at the time, but the Malian was suspended for that game). He added another two in the following match, a 5–1 away rout of Racing de Santander for a total of 11 in the league, and scored one more in the UEFA Champions League. He was also sent off three times in the season, the last of which almost prevented him from taking part in the domestic cup final against Atlético Madrid after insulting the assistant referee in Sevilla's 3–2 win at former club Almería; the ban was later lifted and he was allowed to play – Fabiano was unavailable for the match through injury – in the 2–0 final victory.
Negredo was a regular first choice in the 2010–11 campaign, scoring 26 times in all competitions, 20 in the league (Fabiano also returned to São Paulo FC in March 2011). Highlights included two goals each against Villarreal CF (3–3 away draw in the cup, in an eventual semi-final run), Deportivo (3–3 away draw), Real Madrid (6–2 home loss), Osasuna (3–2 loss, away) and RCD Espanyol (3–2 away victory).