Manuel Almunia

Personal information
Full name	Manuel Almunia Rivero
Date of birth	19 May 1977 (1977-05-19) (age 32)
Place of birth	Pamplona, Spain
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Arsenal
Number	1
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–1999	Osasuna B	44	(0)
1999–2000	Osasuna	0	(0)
1999–2000	→ FC Cartagena (loan)	3	(0)
2000–2001	Sabadell	25	(0)
2001–2004	Celta Vigo	0	(0)
2001–2002	→ SD Eibar (loan)	35	(0)
2002–2003	→ Recreativo Huelva (loan)	2	(0)
2003–2004	→ Albacete Balompié (loan)	24	(0)
2004–	Arsenal	80	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:49, 17 September 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Manuel Almunia Rivero (born 19 May 1977) is a Spanish professional footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for English Premier League club Arsenal.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Born in Pamplona, Navarre, Almunia started his senior career with CA Osasuna's reserve team in 1997, playing two seasons with the team in Segunda División B. He went on to spend two more seasons in the category, with FC Cartagena and Sabadell, joining the top flight in 2001–02, with Real Club Celta de Vigo.

However, shortly after joining Celta, Almunia was loaned out to Segunda División side SD Eibar, where he spent 2001–02 as first-choice goalkeeper. During the 2002-03 season, Celta loaned him out to first-division club Recreativo de Huelva, where he played understudy to José Antonio Luque and César, only making two league appearances. Almunia's debut in the first division came on 17 November 2002, following a red card to the latter, in a 0–3 defeat at Deportivo Alavés.^[2]

He then returned to Celta, being loaned for the third and final time, now to Albacete Balompié on 1 November 2003. He made his club debut the following week, in a 1–0 loss at Málaga CF. Almunia achieved first-choice status, making a total of 24 league appearances until the end of the season, while helping Albacete finish 14th.^[3]

[edit] Arsenal

Almunia signed for Arsenal for an undisclosed fee on 14 July 2004. He was given the number one after Jens Lehmann left for Stuttgart at the beggining of the 2008-09 season. ^[4] In 2008 Almunia signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal.^[5]

[edit] International career

Almunia has not played in any international matches, and stated on more than one occasion about his wish to play for England, but only provided that he didn't receive a call-up from the Euro 2008 winning Spain first.^[6] England coach Capello stated that Almunia is Spanish and does not qualify to play for England despite having English citizenship.^[7]

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

• Arsenal
  • FA Cup: 2005
  • FA Community Shield: 2004
    • Runner-up: 2005
  • UEFA Champions League
    • Runner Up: 2005-06
  • Football League Cup
    • Runner-up: 2007

[edit] Individual

• SD Eibar
  • Ricardo Zamora Trophy: 2001-2002

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Arsenal.com profile
• Manuel Almunia career stats at Soccerbase
• FootballDatabase profile and stats
• Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net
• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)