David Costas Cordal made his La Liga debut on 25 August 2013. He came on in the 77th minute at the Benito Villamarín, replacing Augusto Fernández, as Celta de Vigo beat Real Betis 2-1. He was eighteen and had finished his youth career only two months earlier. A centre-back born on 26 March 1995, he has spent his career between the Galician club and Real Oviedo, with loan spells at Mallorca, Barcelona’s reserve side and Almería.
Early years in Chapela and at Celta’s academy
He started out at Chapela C. F., in the municipality of Redondela, where he played up to under-14 level. He then joined Celta’s academy and worked his way up to the club’s top youth team in the División de Honor. In 2012-13 he also played four matches for Celta B in the Tercera División. His step up to the first team came almost at once, before he had established himself with the reserves, for whom he made only six appearances in Segunda División B in 2013-14.
First years at Celta
That debut in Seville opened a 2013-14 season in which Costas played regularly in Celta’s back line in La Liga, with Luis Enrique as coach. The following season he dropped down the pecking order and made only three league appearances. On 31 August 2015 he extended his deal with the club and was loaned out the same day to RCD Mallorca in the Spanish second division, where he spent the whole of 2015-16 as one of the Balearic side’s centre-backs.
Loans at Oviedo, Barcelona and Almería
On 14 January 2017 he joined Real Oviedo on loan for the first time. He made his debut for the club on 5 February 2017 against Mallorca, his previous side, at the Carlos Tartiere, and scored his first professional goal that day in a 2-1 win. He finished that half-season with 19 league appearances and three goals.
On 31 August 2017 he renewed with Celta again and was loaned to FC Barcelona B, playing 37 second-division matches in 2017-18. That season he was called up by the Barcelona first team for league fixtures, and on 29 November 2017 he made his debut for them in the Copa del Rey, replacing Gerard Piqué early in the second half of a 5-0 home win over Real Murcia. Barcelona went on to lift the 2017-18 Copa del Rey, a trophy that appears on his record.
He returned to Vigo in 2018 and played for Celta in 2018-19 and the first half of the following season. On 25 January 2020 he joined UD Almería on loan until the end of the campaign, with a purchase option. At Almería he made 15 second-division appearances and two more in the promotion play-offs. He went back to Celta for 2020-21 but did not play a single minute.
Youth international career
Costas represented Spain at youth level. He was part of the under-19 squad in 2013 and 2014, around the time of his top-flight debut, and in 2014 he won one cap for the under-21 side.
On 12 July 2021 he left Celta for good and signed a three-year deal with Real Oviedo, then in the second division. Since then he has been one of the Asturian side’s centre-backs, wearing the number 4 shirt. His most notable game came in the 2025 promotion play-off final against CD Mirandés. Oviedo had lost the first leg 1-0 and fell behind again in the return leg at the Carlos Tartiere. Before half-time, a header from Costas after a corner struck the arm of Alberto Reina, and Santi Cazorla equalised from the penalty spot. Ilyas Chaira and Francisco Portillo, the latter in extra time, completed a 3-1 win. Costas was sent off in the closing minutes after a scuffle, along with Mirandés player Unai Egiluz. That victory, in June 2025, took Real Oviedo back to La Liga, a division they had not played in since 2001.
Real OviedoDefenderMarket value €1.2M