On 31 October 2007, in the 81st minute of a 5-1 home defeat to Real Madrid, Ángel Montoro Sánchez (Valencia, 25 June 1988) came on for David Silva and made his La Liga debut for Valencia. Óscar Fernández was in charge as interim manager after Quique Sánchez Flores had been sacked. The 1.81-metre midfielder went on to play for Real Murcia, Real Unión, Recreativo de Huelva, UD Almería, UD Las Palmas, Granada CF and Real Oviedo, and ended his career at Real Murcia in 2024.
Early years in Valencia
Montoro started out at Discóbolo La Torre, a club in his home city, where he played until under-11 level. He then moved into Valencia CF's academy. In the summer of 2007 he turned down an offer from Real Madrid and signed a new deal with Valencia. A few months later he made his first-team debut. When Ronald Koeman took over and Valencia signed Hedwiges Maduro and Éver Banega in January 2008, he went back to the reserves. He is listed among the winners of the 2007-08 Copa del Rey with Valencia. Between 2006 and 2012 he had several spells with Valencia Mestalla, the reserve side. In the last of them the team was in the Spanish fourth tier, chasing promotion to Segunda B.
Spain youth teams
Montoro came through several of Spain's youth teams. He won three caps for the under-16s in 2004 and three more for the under-17s in 2005. With the under-19s he played six matches in 2007 and was part of the squad that won the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Austria. His La Liga debut with Valencia came that same year.
Loans to Murcia and Irun
To give him minutes in professional football, Valencia loaned him to Real Murcia in the Spanish second division for the 2008-09 season, and he scored three goals there. In 2009-10 he joined Real Unión of Irun on loan, a club that had just been promoted to the second tier. He played less there and did not score. He returned to Valencia's reserves in 2010. In March 2011 he was named in a first-team squad for a match against FC Barcelona, although he did not play.
Three seasons at Recreativo
Valencia released him in the summer of 2012 and Montoro signed for Recreativo de Huelva, also in the second division. He was a regular in their midfield for three seasons and scored ten goals. His time in Huelva ended in 2015, when the club were relegated to Segunda B.
Almería and Las Palmas
On 30 June 2015 he signed for UD Almería, who had just been relegated from La Liga. His stay was short. In January 2016 he terminated his contract and joined UD Las Palmas, then in the top flight, on an 18-month deal. That move took him back to La Liga. He played the second half of the 2015-16 season and the whole of 2016-17 with the Canary Islands side.
Five seasons at Granada
In July 2017 he joined Granada CF as a free agent on a three-year contract, just after the club had dropped to the second division. He scored five goals in 2018-19 and helped Granada win promotion to La Liga as runners-up under Diego Martínez. Back in the top flight, Granada qualified for the Europa League for the first time, and Montoro played eleven European matches in the 2020-21 edition. On 25 February 2021, at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium, he headed in a cross from Kenedy for the goal against Napoli that took Granada into the last 16. They lost the match 2-1 but had won the first leg 2-0. He tested positive for COVID-19 in July 2021. He left Granada in June 2022, after the club's relegation, having played more than 120 league matches for them.
Oviedo, back to Murcia and retirement
In the summer of 2022 he signed a one-year deal with Real Oviedo in the second division and scored one goal in 2022-23. He left as a free agent when his contract ran out. In August 2023 he went back to Real Murcia, then in Primera Federación, fifteen years after his first loan spell there. He made six league appearances without scoring, and the club terminated his contract in January 2024. In May 2024 he said in an interview that he had retired and was moving to Granada.
