Álvaro Vázquez


Álvaro Vázquez García is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Sporting de Gijón.

Club career

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Vázquez spent most of his life in Badalona. He joined RCD Espanyol's youth system in 2005 at the age of 14, and four years later he made his senior debut, appearing with the reserves in Segunda División B and suffering team relegation.
Álvaro made his first-team – and La Liga – debut on 21 September 2010, coming on as a substitute for Sergio García midway through the second half of a 0–3 away loss against Real Madrid. Only five days later, he scored the game's only goal in a home fixture against CA Osasuna, and remained with the main squad for the rest of the season, mainly acting as backup to Dani Osvaldo.
After Osvaldo departed for A.S. Roma in summer 2011, Vázquez was made starter by manager Mauricio Pochettino. In January 2012, over only four days, he scored four goals in two games: first, he equalised through a header in the last minutes of the local derby against FC Barcelona, then added a hat-trick to help defeat Córdoba CF in the campaign's Copa del Rey.
After spending 2012–13 with fellow league side Getafe CF, Vázquez became coach Michael Laudrup's eighth Spanish signing for his Swansea City team on 2 September 2013, with the loan move being subject to international clearance. He made his Premier League debut on the 22nd in a 2–0 victory at Crystal Palace, setting up Nathan Dyer for the second goal.
On 31 August 2016, Vázquez returned to his first club Espanyol after agreeing to a four-year contract. On 11 January 2018, after being rarely used, he was loaned to Gimnàstic de Tarragona of Segunda División for six months.
On 23 August 2018, Vázquez joined fellow second level team Real Zaragoza on a one-year loan. Upon returning, he terminated his contract with Espanyol on 18 June 2019, and moved to Sporting de Gijón on a three-year deal on 10 July.

International career

Vázquez represented Spain at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia. He finished the competition with five goals, as the nation reached the quarter-finals.
Also in 2011, Vázquez made his debut for the under-21 team. He helped them win the 2013 UEFA European Championship by scoring in his only appearance, the 3–0 group stage win against the Netherlands.

Career statistics

Honours

International

Spain U21