 Colunga as aRecreativo player (2009) | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Adrián Colunga Pérez | ||
| Date of birth | (1984-11-17)17 November 1984 (age 41) | ||
| Place of birth | Oviedo, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Murcia (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Covadonga | |||
| Sporting Gijón | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2006 | Sporting Gijón B | 28 | (9) |
| 2002 | →Turón (loan) | 8 | (8) |
| 2003 | →Marino (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | →Ceares (loan) | 25 | (8) |
| 2005–2006 | →Marino (loan) | 14 | (2) |
| 2006 | Soledad | 16 | (9) |
| 2006–2007 | Pájara Playas | 37 | (10) |
| 2007–2008 | Las Palmas | 34 | (13) |
| 2008–2010 | Recreativo | 46 | (11) |
| 2010 | →Zaragoza (loan) | 16 | (7) |
| 2010–2014 | Getafe | 82 | (17) |
| 2012 | →Sporting Gijón (loan) | 17 | (3) |
| 2014–2015 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 17 | (3) |
| 2015 | →Granada (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2016 | Mallorca | 8 | (2) |
| 2016–2017 | Anorthosis | 18 | (1) |
| 2017–2018 | Goa | 2 | (1) |
| Total | 377 | (104) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2020–2021 | Mallorca (youth) | ||
| 2021–2022 | San Francisco (youth) | ||
| 2023–2024 | Murcia (youth) | ||
| 2024–2025 | DAC Dunajská Streda (assistant) | ||
| 2025 | Murcia B | ||
| 2025– | Murcia | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Adrián Colunga Pérez (born 17 November 1984) is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played as aforward. He is themanager ofReal Murcia.
He appeared in 152La Liga matches over seven seasons, scoring 36 goals forRecreativo,Zaragoza,Getafe,Sporting de Gijón andGranada. He added 54 games and 17 goals in theSegunda División, and also competed in England, Cyprus and India.
Colunga was born inOviedo,Asturias. After unsuccessfully emerging throughSporting de Gijón's youth system he made his professional debut on loan, in theSegunda División B withMarino de Luanco – also in his native region – going on to serve several others in the third tier andTercera División while also spending the2004–05 season withSporting's reserves.[1][2]
In January 2006, Colunga was definitely released by Gijón and, after a spell in the fourth division and another in the third, joinedUD Las Palmas ofSegunda División. He scored 13 league goals (second-best in the squad) in the2007–08 campaign for aCanary Islands side that was threatened with relegation until the last month of competition.[3]
Colunga was then bought byRecreativo de Huelva inLa Liga, on a four-year contract worth€2.7 million.[4] In his debut for the team, on 31 August 2008, he scored the game's only goal in an away win againstAndalusia neighboursReal Betis.[5]
Alternating between starts andgames from the bench in hisfirst year, Colunga entered the club's history when he scored apenalty kick in a 4–1 loss atDeportivo de La Coruña on 21 December, his fourth consecutive game achieving the feat;[6] Spanish football punditGuillem Balagué compared the player, in his weekly report of first division encounters, toValencia CF'sDavid Villa.[7] Despite a first fruitful year individually,Recre ranked last.[8]
On 23 January 2010, after experiencing personal problems in thenew season at Recreativo, which included a confrontation with club fans,[9] Colunga was loaned toReal Zaragoza of the top flight until June.[10] He scored on his debut eight days later, a 3–1 away victory overCD Tenerife,[11] and finishedthe campaign as the team's top scorer in only four months of play, with theAragonese finally escaping relegation.[12]
On 5 August 2010, Colunga was sold toGetafe CF asKepa Blanco moved in the opposite direction.[13] He was loaned to Sporting Gijón in January 2012,[3] scoring three times in 13 starts during his short spell butsuffering top-division relegation.[14]
Colunga transferred toBrighton & Hove Albion on 25 August 2014 for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-year contract.[15] He scored on his debut the following day, contributing to a 4–2 away defeat ofSwindon Town in thesecond round of theLeague Cup.[16] He added a further three in the EnglishChampionship before the end of the year, with away strikes againstBournemouth (3–2 loss),[17]Norwich City (3–3)[18] andFulham (2–0).[19]
Following the appointment ofChris Hughton as new manager, Colunga found first-team opportunities difficult and, in the very last day of the 2015 Januarytransfer window, joinedGranada CF on a loan deal lasting until the end ofthe season, with the option of a permanent transfer in June.[20] However, having featured rarely, he returned to Brighton and eventually had his contract terminated by mutual consent on 7 October.[21]
On 2 September 2017, the 32-year-old Colunga switched to theIndian Super League withFC Goa[22] after stints withRCD Mallorca and Cypriot clubAnorthosis Famagusta FC.[23] He made his debut on 16 December, scoring in the last minutes of a 5–1 victory againstDelhi Dynamos FC.[24]
Colunga's contract was terminated by mutual agreement on 25 January 2018, when he refused to play second-fiddle to compatriotCoro.[25] Four days later, he announced his retirement.[26]
On 6 August 2020, shortly after obtaining his coaching licence, Colunga returned to Mallorca as manager of theJuvenil B team.[27] The following 25 July, he was appointed at feeder club CD San Francisco in theDivisión de Honor.[28]
Colunga took overReal Murcia CF'sJuvenil A squad on 30 September 2023.[29] In February 2024, he left to joinXisco Muñoz's staff atFC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda of theSlovak First Football League.[30]
On 14 July 2025, Colunga returned to Murcia, now taking charge oftheir reserves in theTercera Federación.[31] On 28 October, he was namedcaretaker of the main squad afterJoseba Etxeberria's dismissal,[32][33] being appointed on a permanent basis on 20 November.[34]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Marino (loan) | 2002–03[35] | Segunda División B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |
| Ceares (loan) | 2003–04[36] | Tercera División | 25 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | 25 | 7 | |
| Sporting Gijón B | 2004–05[36] | Tercera División | 27 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 27 | 6 | |
| Marino (loan) | 2005–06[35] | Segunda División B | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 2 | |
| Pájara Playas (loan) | 2006–07[35] | Segunda División B | 37 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 2 | 39 | 12 |
| Las Palmas | 2007–08[35] | Segunda División | 33 | 13 | 3 | 0 | — | 36 | 13 | |
| Recreativo | 2008–09[35] | La Liga | 33 | 9 | 1 | 0 | — | 34 | 9 | |
| 2009–10[35] | Segunda División | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 14 | 2 | ||
| Total | 46 | 11 | 2 | 0 | — | 48 | 11 | |||
| Zaragoza (loan) | 2009–10[35] | La Liga | 16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 7 | |
| Getafe | 2010–11[35] | La Liga | 29 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 7[b] | 0 | 37 | 7 |
| 2011–12[35] | La Liga | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13[35] | La Liga | 22 | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | 24 | 6 | ||
| 2013–14[35] | La Liga | 27 | 4 | 4 | 1 | — | 31 | 5 | ||
| Total | 82 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 98 | 18 | ||
| Sporting Gijón (loan) | 2011–12[35] | La Liga | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 3 | |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2014–15[37] | Championship | 17 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | 21 | 4 | |
| Granada (loan) | 2014–15[35] | La Liga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| Mallorca | 2015–16[35] | Segunda División | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 2 | |
| 2016–17[35] | Segunda División | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 2 | |||
| Anorthosis | 2016–17[38] | Cypriot First Division | 18 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 20 | 2 | |
| Goa | 2017–18[38] | Indian Super League | 2 | 1 | — | — | 2 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 351 | 83 | 20 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 380 | 88 | ||
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Murcia B |  | 14 July 2025 | 28 October 2025 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 062.50 | [39] |
| Murcia | | 28 October 2025 | Present | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 060.00 | [40] |
| Total | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 12 | +9 | 061.54 | — | |||
