Álvaro Vázquez · Biography

On 21 September 2010, at the Santiago Bernabéu, Álvaro Vázquez García made his La Liga debut for RCD Espanyol, replacing Sergio García in the 73rd minute of a 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid. Five days later he made his first league start and scored the only goal, in the 25th minute, of a 1-0 win over Osasuna at Cornellà-El Prat. A centre-forward born on 27 April 1991 in Badalona and standing 1.82 metres, he has played in Spain, England and India, and won the European Under-21 Championship with Spain in 2013.

Childhood and the Espanyol academy

He started playing at the age of five with CF Trajana in Sant Adrià de Besòs before moving on to CF Damm. In 2005 he joined Espanyol’s youth system. He scored 35 goals for the cadete B side and one fewer the following year for cadete A; with the juvenil B team he added 23 and finished runner-up at an under-17 club world tournament. An injury cost him much of the 2008-09 season with juvenil A, when he managed seven goals. In 2009-10 he stepped up to the reserve team, Espanyol B, and was its top scorer in the Spanish third tier, Segunda División B, with eight goals.

Espanyol first team (2010-2012)

After the debut at the Bernabéu and the winner against Osasuna, Mauricio Pochettino handed him regular minutes in 2010-11, and in 2011-12 he became a starter. That season gave him two dates to remember in January 2012: on the 8th he scored the equaliser in the derby against FC Barcelona, and on the 11th he struck a hat-trick against Córdoba in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey. In 2011 he was among the nominees for the Golden Boy award, given to young players in Europe’s leagues.

Getafe and the Swansea loan (2012-2016)

In the summer of 2012 he joined Getafe CF. A year later, in September 2013, the Madrid club loaned him to Swansea City, then coached by Michael Laudrup. He made his Premier League debut on 22 September 2013 against Crystal Palace and played twelve matches for the Welsh side before returning to Getafe, where he stayed until 2016.

Back at Cornellà and loan spells (2016-2019)

In August 2016 he returned to Espanyol on a four-year contract. His second spell at his boyhood club ended in loans: in 2018 he joined Gimnàstic de Tarragona in the Spanish second division, and he spent the 2018-19 season at Real Zaragoza, again on loan and again in the second tier.

Sporting Gijón, Sabadell and India (2019-2023)

In July 2019 he signed a three-year deal with Real Sporting de Gijón. In January 2021 he moved on loan to CE Sabadell until the end of the season and, back in Asturias, had his contract terminated on 30 August 2021. That same month he joined Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League. He played 23 matches there, scored eight goals and provided two assists, figures that made him the club’s joint top scorer. Kerala reached the final on 20 March 2022 in Fatorda, where Vázquez hit the post; the match finished 1-1 after extra time and Hyderabad won the shoot-out 3-1. In June 2022 he signed a two-year contract with FC Goa, scoring once in the league.

Return to Spain: from Ponferrada to Getxo (2023-2025)

In August 2023 he came back to Spanish football with SD Ponferradina, who released him at the end of December that year. In January 2024 he joined Linares Deportivo, and in July 2024 he went back to his hometown to play for CF Badalona. In August 2025 he signed as a free agent for Arenas Club de Getxo, of the Spanish third tier, Primera Federación.

International career

With the Spain under-20 team he played at the 2011 World Cup in Colombia, scoring five goals in five matches. He was the side’s top scorer and received the tournament’s Silver Shoe, although Spain went out in the quarter-finals against Brazil on penalties. Two years later he was part of the under-21 squad that won the 2013 European Championship in Israel; in his only appearance of the tournament, against the Netherlands, he came on for Isco in the 61st minute and made it 3-0 in the 89th from a Pablo Sarabia pass. Between 2010 and 2016 he also played six matches for Catalonia.