 Nolito in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Manuel Agudo Durán[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1986-10-15)15 October 1986 (age 39)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain[2] | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Winger,forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1990–2000 | Algaida | ||
| 2000–2002 | Sanluqueño | ||
| 2003–2005 | Valencia | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2003 | Sanluqueño | ||
| 2005–2006 | Sanluqueño | 32 | (24) |
| 2006–2008 | Écija | 71 | (15) |
| 2008–2011 | Barcelona B | 106 | (29) |
| 2010–2011 | Barcelona | 2 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | Benfica | 35 | (12) |
| 2013 | →Granada (loan) | 17 | (3) |
| 2013–2016 | Celta | 100 | (39) |
| 2016–2017 | Manchester City | 19 | (4) |
| 2017–2020 | Sevilla | 49 | (7) |
| 2020–2022 | Celta | 75 | (11) |
| 2022–2023 | Ibiza | 27 | (1) |
| Total | 533 | (145) | |
| International career | |||
| 2014–2016 | Spain | 16 | (6) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Manuel Agudo Durán (Spanish pronunciation:[maˈnwelaˈɣuðoðuˈɾan];[A] born 15 October 1986), known asNolito ([noˈlito]), is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played as awinger or aforward.
Having begun his career at lower league clubs he signed forBarcelona in 2008, playing predominantly with itsreserves. He totalled 243 games and 60 goals inLa Liga, where he also representedGranada,Celta andSevilla. Abroad, he played two seasons forBenfica in Portugal, and one in the EnglishPremier League withManchester City.
Nolito made his debut forSpain in November 2014, representing the nation atEuro 2016.
Born inSanlúcar de Barrameda,Cádiz,Andalusia, Nolito began his career with UD Algaida in his hometown before joiningAtlético Sanluqueño in 2000. He made his first-team debut inTercera División with the latter club at the age of just 15, scoring on his debut,[3] and moved toValencia in 2003, where he wrapped up his formative years.[4][5]
Nolito returned to Sanluqueño in 2005,[6] and was their top scorer in the2005–06 season with 27 goals (24 in the regular season).[7] He then signed withÉcija of theSegunda División B, where he scored in a 1–1 home draw againstReal Madrid in the2006–07 Copa del Rey.[8]
Nolito arrived atBarcelona's youth academy at nearly 22 years of age, after scoring 13 times for Écijathe previous campaign. With theCatalans'B team, also in the third tier, he scored 16 league goals over two seasons – 12 inthe second[9]– as the side returned to theSegunda División after an 11-year absence.[10]
On 3 October 2010, Nolito made hisLa Liga debut for Barcelona, coming on as asubstitute forPedro in a 1–1 home draw againstMallorca.[11] On 10 November, he opened the 5–1 home win overCeuta in theround of 32 of theCopa del Rey (7–1 on aggregate).[12]
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In late May 2011, Nolito rejected Barcelona's offer of a professional contract and instead signed a five-year deal with Portuguese clubBenfica, effective as of 1 July.[13] He scored on his official debut on the 27th, a 2–0 home win againstTrabzonspor in theUEFA Champions Leaguethird qualifying round.[14] He also netted in the second leg, a 1–1 draw.[15]
On 20 August 2011, Nolito scored once in a 3–1 home victory overFeirense, making him alongsideEusébio the only player to score in his first five official matches.[16] He managed 15 goals in 48 competitive appearances in hisfirst season,[9]helping his team to win theTaça da Liga.[17]
Nolito returned to his country and his native region on 29 January 2013, being loaned toGranada for six months and a fee of €600,000, without the possibility of making the move permanent in June.[18][19] In his first match, four days after signing, he took thecorner which resulted inCristiano Ronaldo'sown goal for the game's only, giving Granada their first win over Real Madrid in 40 years.[20][21]
Nolito signed withCelta de Vigo on 1 July 2013, penning a four-year deal and reuniting with former Barcelona B bossLuis Enrique.[22] He finished hisdebut campaign as team top scorer with 14.[23]
Nolito was namedLa Liga Player of the Month for September 2014, with four goals during a month which endedwith the side in sixth position.[24] He created 96 goalscoring opportunities over the campaign, the most in the Spanish league and fourth most in Europe's five leading leagues.[25]
On 23 September 2015, Nolito took his league tally to five after scoring once and providing twoassists forIago Aspas in a 4–1 home defeat of former club Barcelona.[26] He totalled three goals and an assist that month to help them remain unbeaten, earning him a second Player of the Month accolade.[27] In mid-December, however, he suffered ahamstring injury againstEspanyol which sidelined him for two months.[28][29]
Nolito returned to action on 20 February 2016, featuring roughly 20 minutes in a 3–2 home win overEibar.[30] In the following round, he scored the game's only goal atGetafe,[31] and Celta eventuallyfinished in sixth place.
On 1 July 2016, Nolito signed withPremier League sideManchester City on a four-year deal for a fee of £13.8 million.[32][33] He made his debut on 13 August, playing 59 minutes in a 2–1 home victory againstSunderland.[34] Three days later he scored his first goal, and also provided an assist toSergio Agüero in a 5–0 away rout ofSteaua București in theChampions League play-off round.[35]
Nolito made a few appearances during his time in Manchester, but he and his family were unsettled by life in England.[36]
In July 2017,Sevilla signed Nolito on a three-year contract.[37] He spent the better part of2018–19 on the sidelines, nursing afibula injury.[38]
On 18 June 2020, Nolito rejoined Celta on a reported one-year deal. His Sevilla contract was set to expire at the end of the month, and the former were granted an emergency exception to acquire him outside of thetransfer window because of a long-term injury to goalkeeperSergio Álvarez.[39][40] Three days later, in his first game back, he came off the bench to assistSanti Mina and score apenalty in a 6–0 home thrashing ofAlavés.[41]
On 5 September 2022, Nolito joined second-tierIbiza on afree transfer, on a two-year deal.[42] He played 28 times in hisonly season as theBalearic side were relegated,[43][44] scoring just once in a 3–2 home win overLugo on 2 October.[45]
Nolito's contract was terminated in June 2023, and he announced his retirement at 36 on 13 September.[46]
Nolito did not earn a singlecap forSpain atyouth level. On 7 November 2014, he was called up by full side managerVicente del Bosque for aUEFA Euro 2016qualifier againstBelarus and afriendly withGermany.[47] He made his debut against the latter on the 18th, starting at his club ground ofBalaídos in a 0–1 loss.[48]
On 17 May 2016, Nolito was named in the preliminary squad for the final tournament in France.[49] Twelve days later, in a friendly againstBosnia and Herzegovina, he scored his first goals, striking twice in the first half of a 3–1 win in Switzerland.[50] he repeated the feat the following match, a 6–1 rout ofSouth Korea in Austria.[51]
Selected for the squad of 23,[52] Nolito acted often as starter, scoring from close range in a 3–0 group stage victory overTurkey at theStade de Nice and also assistingÁlvaro Morata for the opener.[53]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Écija | 2006–07 | Segunda División B | 31 | 2 | 5 | 3 | — | — | 36 | 5 | ||
| 2007–08 | 40 | 13 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 13 | ||||
| Total | 71 | 15 | 5 | 3 | — | — | 76 | 18 | ||||
| Barcelona B | 2008–09 | Segunda División B | 28 | 4 | — | — | — | 28 | 4 | |||
| 2009–10 | 40 | 12 | — | — | — | 40 | 12 | |||||
| 2010–11 | Segunda División | 38 | 13 | — | — | — | 38 | 13 | ||||
| Total | 106 | 29 | — | — | — | 106 | 29 | |||||
| Barcelona | 2010–11 | La Liga | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
| Benfica | 2011–12 | Primeira Liga | 29 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12[c] | 3 | 48 | 15 |
| 2012–13 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 15 | 1 | ||
| Total | 35 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 63 | 16 | ||
| Granada | 2012–13 | La Liga | 17 | 3 | — | — | — | 17 | 3 | |||
| Celta | 2013–14 | La Liga | 35 | 14 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 14 | ||
| 2014–15 | 36 | 13 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 13 | ||||
| 2015–16 | 29 | 12 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 12 | ||||
| Total | 100 | 39 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 103 | 39 | ||||
| Manchester City | 2016–17 | Premier League | 19 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6[c] | 2 | 30 | 6 |
| Sevilla | 2017–18 | La Liga | 30 | 4 | 5 | 1 | — | 7[c] | 0 | 42 | 5 | |
| 2018–19 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 10[d] | 4 | 17 | 5 | |||
| 2019–20 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | 2[d] | 0 | 20 | 5 | |||
| Total | 49 | 7 | 11 | 4 | — | 19 | 4 | 79 | 15 | |||
| Celta | 2019–20 | La Liga | 7 | 2 | — | — | — | 7 | 2 | |||
| 2020–21 | 36 | 7 | 1 | 2 | — | — | 37 | 9 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 32 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 75 | 11 | 4 | 2 | — | — | 79 | 13 | ||||
| Ibiza | 2022–23 | Segunda División | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 501 | 121 | 37 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 40 | 9 | 586 | 141 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain[55] | |||
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 11 | 6 | |
| Total | 16 | 6 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 May 2016 | AFG Arena,St. Gallen, Switzerland | 7 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 2–0 | ||||||
| 3 | 1 June 2016 | Red Bull Arena,Salzburg, Austria | 8 |  South Korea | 3–0 | 6–1 | Friendly |
| 4 | 5–0 | ||||||
| 5 | 17 June 2016 | Stade de Nice,Nice, France | 11 |  Turkey | 2–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 2016 |
| 6 | 9 October 2016 | Loro Boriçi Stadium,Shkodër, Albania | 15 |  Albania | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Barcelona
Benfica
Sevilla
Individual
