On 26 August 2007, at the Riazor, Álvaro Negredo Sánchez made his debut in the Spanish top flight with UD Almería and scored the opening goal of a 3-0 away win over Deportivo de La Coruña. Born in Madrid on 20 August 1985, the centre-forward went on to play for Sevilla, Manchester City, Valencia, Middlesbrough, Beşiktaş, Dubai’s Al-Nasr, Cádiz and Real Valladolid, and was capped by the Spain national team between 2009 and 2013.
Vallecas and Castilla
He grew up in Vallecas, where he started out playing futsal at the Salesian school Ciudad de los Muchachos before moving through the A.F.E. and into Rayo Vallecano’s youth system. He made his professional debut for Rayo in 2005 in the Segunda División B, the Spanish third tier, scoring once in 13 league games. That same year he joined Real Madrid Castilla, the club’s reserve side, and recorded 22 goals in 65 matches over two seasons. In the summer of 2007 Real Madrid sold him to newly promoted Almería while keeping a buy-back option.
The breakthrough at Almería
The Andalusian side gave him regular football from the opening weekend. He scored 13 league goals in 2007-08 and 19 in 2008-09. In 2009 Real Madrid triggered the buy-back clause for around five million euros, but he never played for the first team: on 20 August 2009 Sevilla signed him for 15 million euros.
Four seasons at Sevilla
He made his Sevilla debut on 30 August 2009 as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat at Valencia, and two weeks later scored his first goal in a 2-0 win away to Osasuna. He finished that campaign with 11 league goals and won the 2010 Copa del Rey. He followed it with 20 league goals in 2010-11, 14 in 2011-12 and 25 in 2012-13, a season that included a hat-trick against Celta in March and ended on 1 June 2013 with all four goals in Sevilla’s 4-3 win over Valencia. He won the Zarra Trophy in 2011 and 2013. In all, he played 182 competitive matches for the club and scored 85 goals.
Manchester City and Valencia
On 17 July 2013 Manchester City paid 25 million euros for him. He made his Premier League debut on 19 August 2013, coming off the bench in a 4-0 win over Newcastle, and ended the season with 9 league goals and 23 in all competitions. He scored a Champions League hat-trick against CSKA Moscow and another against West Ham in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final. In 2014 he won the Premier League and the League Cup, playing the last two minutes of the final against Sunderland. On 1 September 2014 he returned to Spain on loan to Valencia with an obligation to buy; he scored 5 league goals in 30 games in 2014-15 and joined the Mestalla club permanently in 2015. In August 2015 he scored at Monaco in a Champions League qualifier.
Middlesbrough, Turkey and the Emirates
On 20 July 2016 Valencia loaned him to newly promoted Premier League side Middlesbrough. He was the team’s top league scorer with 9 goals, although they were relegated in 2017. In August 2017 he joined Beşiktaş, scoring 7 goals in 31 Süper Lig games in 2017-18, and he struck a late winner against LASK in Europa League qualifying in August 2018. In September 2018 his contract in Turkey was terminated and he moved to Al-Nasr in Dubai. There he scored 25 league goals over two seasons and, on 17 January 2020, found the net in the UAE League Cup final, which his side won.
Cádiz and Valladolid
In the summer of 2020 he returned to LaLiga with newly promoted Cádiz. He scored in his second appearance, a 2-0 win away to Huesca, and finished 2020-21 as the squad’s top scorer with 8 league goals. In December 2021 he hit a hat-trick in a 7-0 Copa del Rey win over Villa de Fortuna, and he was the joint top scorer of 2021-22 with seven league goals. He played 105 competitive matches for Cádiz, scoring 20 goals, before his contract was terminated on 1 February 2024. A week later he joined Real Valladolid, scoring once in 12 games and winning promotion to the top flight in 2024.
Spain national team
Vicente del Bosque handed him his debut on 10 October 2009 in Yerevan, when he replaced Fernando Torres in the second half of a 2-1 win over Armenia in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Four days later he scored his first two international goals, against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was part of the squad that won Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, starting the semi-final against Portugal. His last goal for Spain came against Georgia on 15 October 2013, and he finished his international career with 10 goals in 21 caps.
Honours and retirement
He won the 2010 Copa del Rey with Sevilla, the 2014 Premier League and League Cup with Manchester City, the 2020 UAE League Cup with Al-Nasr and Euro 2012 with Spain. After leaving Valladolid he spent several months without a club and began coaching training with Sevilla C. He announced his retirement on 6 March 2025.
