Manu del Moral

Manu del Moral
Manu in action for Sevilla in 2011
Personal information
Full name Manuel del Moral Fernández[1]
Date of birth (1984-02-25) 25 February 1984[1]
Place of birth Jaén, Spain
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position Forward
Team information
Current team
 Getafe B (manager)
Youth career
Jaén
2001–2002 Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2006 Atlético Madrid B 71 (11)
2004–2006 Atlético Madrid 5 (0)
2004–2005 → Recreativo (loan) 33 (4)
2006–2011 Getafe 159 (37)
2011–2015 Sevilla 56 (11)
2013–2014 → Elche (loan) 24 (2)
2014–2015 → Eibar (loan) 28 (3)
2015–2016 Valladolid 25 (3)
2016–2018 Numancia 51 (17)
2018–2019 Gimnàstic 15 (2)
2019 Rayo Majadahonda 14 (3)
Total 481 (93)
International career
2002–2003 Spain U19 4 (3)
2002–2003 Spain U20 9 (0)
2005 Spain U23 5 (2)
2011 Spain 1 (0)
Managerial career
2021–2022 Cultural Asako Motril
2024–2025 Motril (assistant)
2025 Motril
2025– Getafe B
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Manuel "Manu" del Moral Fernández (born 25 February 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as either a forward or winger. He is the current manager of Getafe B.

He played 272 games and scored 53 goals in La Liga, representing Atlético Madrid, Getafe, Sevilla, Elche and Eibar.[2] In the Segunda División, serving five other clubs, he recorded 138 appearances and 29 goals.

Del Moral won one cap for the Spain national team.

Club career

Atlético Madrid

Del Moral was born in Jaén, Andalusia. After starting his youth career with local Real Jaén,[3] he finished it with Atlético Madrid, where he played alongside Braulio, and served a one-and-a-half-season loan in the Segunda División at Recreativo de Huelva, appearing in only five matches in his first year.[4]

While mainly registered with the capital club's reserves, del Moral did play five La Liga games in the 2005–06 campaign, mainly as a late substitute.[5]

Getafe

Del Moral joined Madrid neighbours Getafe CF for 2006–07,[6] scoring his first top-flight goal on 22 October 2006 in a 2–1 away win over precisely Recreativo[7] and finishing the season with eight (squad's second-best, behind Dani Güiza). The following campaign, he teamed up again with Braulio and netted seven times – joint-top scorer alongside Juan Ángel Albín[8]– while also helping the Madrid outskirts team to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.[9]

The arrival of Roberto Soldado relegated del Moral to a more secondary role in 2008–09, but he still made 29 league appearances, operating mostly on the wings. On 24 January 2010, he scored the game's only goal as Getafe defeated former side Atlético Madrid for the first time at home in its history.[10] On 7 November, he netted in a 1–3 home loss against FC Barcelona to become the club's best-ever scorer in the top division for the second time, surpassing precisely Soldado.[11]

On 14 March 2011, del Moral scored three goals against Athletic Bilbao in only 25 minutes, one in his own net, in an eventual 2–2 home draw.[12] He finished the season with nine goals, in a narrow escape from relegation.[5]

Sevilla

On 23 May 2011, del Moral signed a four-year contract with Sevilla FC for €4 million.[13][14] Following the departure of winger Diego Capel and the ageing of striker Frédéric Kanouté, he was immediately cast into his new team's starting XI. On 25 October, he hit an injury-time header to earn his side one point at home against Racing de Santander (2–2) – he had also opened the score late into the first half.[15]

In late March 2012, del Moral scored braces in two consecutive 3–0 away wins, first against Santander then in a local derby at Granada CF.[16][17] After only three competitive goals in the 2012–13 campaign, he was loaned to Elche CF[18] and SD Eibar,[19] but managed just five top-tier goals both teams combined.[20][21]

Later career

On 27 August 2015, del Moral signed a one-year contract with Real Valladolid.[22] He continued to play in the second tier the following seasons, representing CD Numancia,[23] Gimnàstic de Tarragona and CF Rayo Majadahonda;[24] with the first of those teams, in the 2018 promotion play-offs final, he scored in a 1–1 draw at Valladolid following a 3–0 loss in the first leg.[25]

Del Moral announced his retirement on 26 September 2019, at the age of 35.[26]

International career

On 7 June 2011, after his best season at Getafe,[5] del Moral made his debut for Spain, replacing David Villa during half-time of a 3–0 friendly victory over Venezuela.[27][28][29]

Coaching career

On 1 October 2021, del Moral was appointed manager of Primera Andaluza side CD Cultural Asako Motril.[30] He moved to CF Motril in 2023; initially a match delegate, he later became an assistant before being named head of the club in January 2025.[31]

On 9 June 2025, del Moral agreed to return to Getafe on a one-year contract, and took over the reserves in the Segunda Federación.[32]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[33][34][1]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Atlético Madrid B 2002–03 Segunda División B 363———363
2003–04 141———141
2005–06 217———217
Total 7111———7111
Recreativo (loan) 2003–04 Segunda División 51———51
2004–05 28330——313
Total 33430——364
Atlético Madrid 2005–06 La Liga 5000——50
Getafe 2006–07 La Liga 30860——368
2007–08 347518[a]0—478
2008–09 29520——315
2009–10 36881——449
2010–11 309205[b]0—379
Total 15937232130—19539
Sevilla 2011–12 La Liga 3410402[b]0—4010
2012–13 22152——273
Total 56119220—6713
Elche (loan) 2013–14 La Liga 24200——242
Eibar (loan) 2014–15 La Liga 28300——283
Valladolid 2015–16 Segunda División 25300——253
Numancia 2016–17 Segunda División 20910——219
2017–18 31810—1[c]1339
Total 511720—115418
Gimnàstic 2018–19 Segunda División 15200——150
Rayo Majadahonda 2018–19 Segunda División 14300——143
Career total 481933741501153498
  1. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Cup
  2. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ↑ Appearance in La Liga play-offs

Honours

Getafe

Spain U20

Spain U23

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Manu del Moral at WorldFootball.net
  2. ↑ "Manu del Moral firma con el Valladolid por una temporada" [Manu del Moral signs with Valladolid for one season]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 27 August 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  3. ↑ Contreras, Miguel Ángel (21 January 2008). "Cómo se 'fabrica' un Manu del Moral" [How to 'make' a Manu del Moral]. Ideal (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  4. 1 2 Lara, José Eugenio (28 January 2011). "Deportes.– De Jaén al fútbol de las estrellas" [Sports.– From Jaén to the football of the stars]. Diario Jaén (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 Carretero, Rodrigo (25 May 2011). "Del Moral se va con la música a Estados Unidos" [Del Moral takes his music to the United States]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  6. ↑ "Manu del Moral: humildad, trabajo y polivalencia" [Manu del Moral: humility, work and versatility]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 25 May 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  7. ↑ "Abbondanzieri protagoniza la victoria al parar un penalti" [Abbondanzieri the protagonist in win after saving a penalty]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 22 October 2006. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  8. ↑ "Manu supera a Güiza y se convierte en máximo goleador del Getafe en Primera" [Manu surpasses Güiza and becomes Getafe's top scorer in Primera]. Marca (in Spanish). 24 September 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  9. ↑ "El sueño azulón acabó en el último minuto de una prórroga inolvidable (3–3)" [The blue dream ended in the last minute of an unforgettable overtime (3–3)]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 11 April 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "Manu haunts old club". ESPN Soccernet. 24 January 2010. Archived from the original on 29 January 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  11. ↑ "Manu, máximo goleador en la historia del Getafe" [Manu, top goal scorer in Getafe history]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 7 November 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  12. ↑ "Vera rescues point for Bilbao". ESPN Soccernet. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. ↑ "Sevilla swoop for Trochowski and Manu". UEFA. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  14. ↑ Alba, Jesús (12 February 2013). "El extraño caso de Manu del Moral" [The strange case of Manu del Moral]. Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  15. ↑ "Manu salvages point for Sevilla". ESPN Soccernet. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  16. ↑ "Manu double downs Racing". ESPN Soccernet. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  17. ↑ "Sevilla cruise to victory". ESPN Soccernet. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  18. ↑ Quintero, Fede (5 July 2013). "Manu del Moral y Stevanovic llegan cedidos al Elche" [Manu del Moral and Stevanovic arrive to Elche on loan]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  19. ↑ "El Sevilla cede a Manu del Moral al Eibar" [Sevilla loan Manu del Moral to Eibar]. Marca (in Spanish). 8 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  20. ↑ Palomar, Julián (12 February 2014). "Manu del Moral se apunta a ser un 'cincuentón'" [Manu del Moral digs being 'fifty']. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  21. ↑ Gómez, Letizia (16 May 2018). "La doble cara de las cesiones" [The two faces of loans]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  22. ↑ "Manu del Moral, más gol para el Pucela" [Manu del Moral, more goal for Pucela] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  23. ↑ "Manu del Moral, nuevo jugador del C. D. Numancia" [Manu del Moral, new player of C. D. Numancia] (in Spanish). CD Numancia. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  24. ↑ "Manu del Moral refuerza la delantera del CF Rayo Majadahonda" [Manu del Moral bolsters the forward line of CF Rayo Majadahonda] (in Spanish). CF Rayo Majadahonda. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  25. ↑ "El Valladolid vuelve a Primera División tras empatar con el Numancia (1–1)" [Valladolid return to Primera División after drawing with Numancia (1–1)]. Libertad Digital (in Spanish). 16 June 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  26. ↑ "Manu del Moral se retira tras 10 años en Primera y siete en Segunda" [Manu del Moral retires after 10 years in Primera and seven in Segunda]. Marca (in Spanish). 26 September 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  27. ↑ "Manu wins first Spain call-up". ESPN Soccernet. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  28. ↑ Macdonald, Paul (7 June 2011). "Cazorla & Silva shine, Negredo nets, Torres returns – Spain extract maximum satisfaction from comfortable USA triumph". Goal. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  29. ↑ "Spain defeats Venezuela 3–0 in friendly". Fox Sports. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  30. ↑ Salvador, José A. (1 October 2021). "El ex internacional Manu del Moral será el entrenador del Cultural Asako Motril de Andaluza" [Former international Manu del Moral will be the manager of Cultural Asako Motril from Andaluza] (in Spanish). Cadena COPE. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  31. ↑ Salvador, José A. (23 January 2025). "Manu del Moral debuta como entrenador del CF Motril ante El Palo de Edu Oriol" [Manu del Moral debuts as manager of CF Motril against Edu Oriol's El Palo] (in Spanish). Cadena COPE. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  32. ↑ "Manu del Moral, nuevo entrenador del Getafe B" [Manu del Moral, new manager of Getafe B] (in Spanish). Getafe CF. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
  33. ↑ Manu del Moral at BDFutbol
  34. ↑ Manu del Moral at Soccerway
  35. ↑ Llamas, Fernando (23 June 2007). "El Sevilla culmina su año del siglo" [Sevilla cap off their year of the century]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  36. ↑ "El Valencia, campeón" [Valencia, champions] (in Spanish). Eurosport. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  37. ↑ "Spain denied at final hurdle". UEFA. 19 December 2003. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  38. ↑ Garin, Erik. "Mediterranean Games 2005 (Spain)". RSSSF. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
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