In August 2016, Álvaro Vadillo Cifuentes (Puerto Real, Cádiz, 12 September 1994) left Real Betis as a free agent and signed for SD Huesca in the Spanish second division. He was a winger who had made his La Liga debut at 16 and had already torn the cruciate ligament in his knee twice. At Huesca he got the playing time he had not had in Seville. From that summer he won three promotions in five years, with Huesca, Granada and Espanyol, and spent his career moving between the top two divisions.
From La Salle to the Betis academy
He started playing at Club Deportivo La Salle in his hometown and joined the Real Betis academy in 2006, aged 12. With Pepe Mel as coach, he made his La Liga debut in August 2011, starting a 1-0 away win over Granada at Los Cármenes before he had turned 17. Two months later that run came to a stop. On 15 October 2011, at the Santiago Bernabéu, he collided with Sergio Ramos and suffered a torn cruciate ligament. His next competitive match came in November 2012, in the Copa del Rey against Valladolid. He played 34 games and scored four goals for the reserve team, and on 25 January 2013 he was promoted to the first-team squad with the number 9 shirt.
Youth international career
He represented Spain at youth level. He played seven matches for the under-17s between 2010 and 2011, and five for the under-20s in 2012, scoring once. In 2013 he went to the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Lithuania. Spain won their group, and Vadillo provided an assist in the 2-0 win over the hosts in Kaunas. Spain went out in the semi-finals on 29 July 2013, losing 2-1 to France after extra time. He finished with seven under-19 caps and one goal.
Betis first team and another injury
His first competitive goal for Betis came in the Europa League on 24 October 2013. He scored the only goal of the game against Vitória de Guimarães at the Benito Villamarín in the 50th minute, giving the team its first win of the group stage. Betis were relegated at the end of that campaign. In the summer of 2014 he tore his knee ligament again, in a pre-season friendly in Marbella, and was out for around six months. He was back in time to be part of the side that won the Spanish second division in 2014-15. He made 49 league appearances for the first team without scoring, and he left the club as a free agent in 2016.
He signed for Huesca on 18 August 2016 and scored seven goals in his first year there. In 2017-18 the Aragonese club won promotion to La Liga for the first time in its history. Vadillo left El Alcoraz with 53 appearances and seven goals. On 27 June 2018 he signed a two-year deal with Granada. He went up again in 2018-19, scoring four goals. On 21 September 2019 he scored his first goal in La Liga: a 66th-minute penalty in Granada's 2-0 win over FC Barcelona at Los Cármenes. He left Granada in the summer of 2020 with 62 appearances and seven goals.
Celta, Espanyol and the loan spells
On 22 July 2020 he signed a three-year contract with Celta de Vigo, but he never played a competitive match for the Galician club. On 5 October 2020 he joined the newly relegated RCD Espanyol on loan, with an option to buy tied to promotion. Espanyol won the Spanish second division in 2020-21, and on 2 June 2021 the move became permanent. On 5 January 2022 he went on loan to Málaga, where he scored three goals in 17 matches. On 22 July 2022 he was loaned to SD Eibar and made 22 appearances without scoring. On 9 August 2023 he agreed with Espanyol to terminate his contract.
Racing de Ferrol
On 1 September 2023 he signed for Racing de Ferrol, who had just been promoted to the second division. Ongoing knee problems meant he struggled to play regularly for the Galician side. Between September 2023 and June 2024 he made eight league appearances for Racing and scored one goal.
