Manuel Jesús Vázquez Florido, known as Chuli, was born in Huelva on 25 January 1991. A centre-forward, he came through the youth ranks at Santa Marta and Recreativo de Huelva before moving to Espanyol’s academy in 2006, where he finished his youth career. He spent most of his playing days in the Spanish second division and the lower tiers. He played top-flight matches for Real Betis and had spells at Leganés, Almería, Getafe, Lugo and Extremadura before ending his career at Orihuela in 2025.
Youth career and early steps
After playing for Santa Marta in 2004-05 and Recreativo in 2005-06, Chuli joined the Espanyol academy, where he stayed until 2010. In 2009 he won two caps for Spain’s under-18 side. His first taste of senior football came with Espanyol’s reserve team, though playing time was limited. On 22 January 2011 he scored his first senior goal in a 4-0 Tercera División win over Amposta.
Breakthrough at Recreativo de Huelva
In 2011 he returned to Huelva to play for Recreativo’s reserve side, Atlético Onubense, and scored 22 goals in a single season. On 16 May 2012 he made his official first-team debut against Córdoba, and for the 2012-13 campaign he was promoted for good to the second-division squad. He featured from the opening matchday, against Xerez. On 8 September 2012 he scored twice in a 3-2 home win over Real Murcia, and on 6 October he hit a hat-trick in a 4-2 home win over Alcorcón. He finished that season with 15 goals.
Real Betis and a loan to Leganés
On 8 May 2013 Real Betis completed his signing on a four-year deal, paying Recreativo €600,000. He made his La Liga debut on 25 August 2013, playing around half an hour in a 1-2 home defeat to Celta at the Benito Villamarín. His first goal for the Seville club came on 7 November 2013 in the Europa League group stage, a late winner away to Vitória de Guimarães. In all he made 11 top-flight appearances for Betis. A planned loan to Real Zaragoza in 2014 fell through, and in January 2015 Betis sent him to Leganés until the end of the season. At Butarque he found his scoring touch again, with 11 goals in 21 league games in the second division.
In July 2015 he left Betis and signed a five-year contract with UD Almería, then in the Spanish second division. On 31 January 2016 he scored twice against Real Zaragoza. He made 47 league appearances for the Andalusian club, scoring 6 goals. In January 2017 he moved to Getafe in a swap deal that took Karim Yoda to Almería. He scored five goals for the Madrid-area side, two of them in a 4-0 win over Almería, and was part of the squad that won promotion to La Liga in 2017. That summer Getafe signed him on a permanent basis.
Loans to Lugo and Extremadura
Without any league minutes for Getafe in 2017-18, he was loaned in December 2017 to second-division CD Lugo until the end of the season. He played 12 matches and scored once, a goal as a starter against Barcelona B in February 2018. In August 2018 Getafe loaned him out again, this time to Extremadura, also in the second division, where he made 22 appearances and scored one more goal.
Return to Huelva and final years
In August 2019 he went back to Recreativo, then competing in Segunda División B, the third tier. He spent two seasons in his home city, playing 46 matches and scoring 6 goals, and in 2021 he went through the club’s double relegation to the fifth tier following the restructuring of the Spanish leagues. In September 2021 he joined Hércules in the newly created Segunda División RFEF, making 25 appearances and scoring once. In July 2022 he moved to Lleida Esportiu, where he scored 18 goals over two seasons, 11 of them in 2023-24. In August 2024 he signed for Orihuela CF, playing 29 matches and scoring 5 goals in 2024-25, the final season of a career that ended in 2025 with 381 club appearances and 92 goals.
