Álvaro García Rivera (born 27 October 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano as an attacking midfielder or left winger.
 García in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Álvaro García Rivera | ||
| Date of birth | 27 October 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Utrera, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||
| Positions | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Rayo Vallecano | ||
| Number | 18 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Utrera | |||
| 2010–2011 | Goyu-Ryu | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–2013 | Utrera | ||
| 2013 | San Fernando | 15 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | Granada B | 31 | (6) |
| 2013–2016 | Granada | 4 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | → Racing Santander (loan) | 30 | (3) |
| 2015–2016 | → Cádiz (loan) | 34 | (7) |
| 2016–2018 | Cádiz | 74 | (15) |
| 2018– | Rayo Vallecano | 280 | (36) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 25 May 2026 | |||
Career
editBorn in Utrera, Province of Seville, García finished his formation with local CG Goyu-Ryu, signing for CD Utrera in August 2011.[1] He made his senior debuts in the 2011–12 season, with his team in the regional championships.
On 23 January 2013, García moved to San Fernando CD, in Segunda División B.[2] He finished the campaign with 15 appearances (12 starts), scoring one goal.
On 6 July, García joined La Liga side Granada CF for four years.[3] He featured with the first team during pre-season, and made his professional – and La Liga – debut on 18 August, playing the last twelve minutes of a 2–1 away win against CA Osasuna.[4]
On 28 August 2014, García was loaned to Segunda División club Racing de Santander, in a season-long loan deal.[5] Roughly a year later he moved to Cádiz CF, also in a temporary deal.[6]
On 19 July 2016, after scoring a career-best nine goals in the Yellow Submarine's promotion campaign, García signed a permanent four-year deal after rescinding with Granada.[7] On 14 January 2018, he scored a brace in a 2–0 home defeat of Córdoba CF.
On 13 August 2018, Cádiz announced that 50% of García's federative rights were sold to SD Huesca for a fee of €3 million,[8] but the player announced hours later he would not play for the latter club.[9] Ten days later, he joined Rayo Vallecano on a five-year contract.[10]
During his spell at the club, he became Rayo Vallecano's all-time top scorer in La Liga after scoring in a 3–0 away win over Levante on 19 October 2025, netting his 29th league goal for the club to surpass the previous record held by Alberto Bueno.[11] On 15 February 2026, he surpassed Jesús Diego Cota as the player with the most appearances for the club in the top flight, reaching 198 matches in La Liga.[12]
Career statistics
edit- As of match played 27 May 2026[13]
| Club | Season | League | Copa del Rey | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| San Fernando | 2012–13 | Segunda División B | 15 | 1 | — | — | — | 15 | 1 | |||
| Granada B | 2013–14 | Segunda División B | 30 | 6 | — | — | — | 30 | 6 | |||
| 2014–15 | Segunda División B | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 31 | 6 | — | — | — | 31 | 6 | |||||
| Granada | 2013–14 | La Liga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| Racing Santander (loan) | 2014–15 | Segunda División | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 3 | ||
| Cádiz (loan) | 2015–16 | Segunda División B | 34 | 7 | 5 | 0 | — | 5[a] | 2 | 44 | 9 | |
| Cádiz | 2016–17 | Segunda División | 38 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | 41 | 5 | |
| 2017–18 | Segunda División | 36 | 10 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 40 | 11 | |||
| Total | 108 | 22 | 10 | 1 | — | 7 | 2 | 125 | 25 | |||
| Rayo Vallecano | 2018–19 | La Liga | 35 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 37 | 5 | ||
| 2019–20 | Segunda División | 35 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 4 | |||
| 2020–21 | Segunda División | 39 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 4[b] | 2 | 45 | 4 | ||
| 2021–22 | La Liga | 36 | 7 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 39 | 8 | |||
| 2022–23 | La Liga | 35 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 5 | |||
| 2023–24 | La Liga | 32 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 6 | |||
| 2024–25 | La Liga | 36 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 4 | |||
| 2025–26 | La Liga | 32 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 14[c] | 5 | — | 50 | 11 | ||
| Total | 280 | 36 | 19 | 4 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 317 | 47 | ||
| Career total | 468 | 68 | 29 | 5 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 522 | 82 | ||
- ↑ Appearances in Segunda División promotion play-offs
- 1 2 Appearances in La Liga promotion play-offs
- ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League
Honors
editRayo Vallecano
- Segunda División play-offs: 2021
- UEFA Conference League runner-up: 2025–26
Individual
References
edit- ↑ El CD Utrera ultima los fichajes de la nueva temporada (CD Utrera completes signings for the new season); La Voz de Utrera, 31 August 2011 (in Spanish)
- ↑ Álvaro, refuerzo para la segunda vuelta. (Álvaro, reinforcement for second round); San Fernando CD, 23 January 2013 (in Spanish)
- ↑ Alvaro Garcia nuevo jugador del Granada Club de Futbol (Alvaro Garcia new player of Granada Club de Futbol); Granada CF, 6 July 2013 (in Spanish)
- ↑ Granada hold on for victory Archived 25 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine; ESPN FC, 18 August 2013
- ↑ Álvaro García cedido al Racing de Santander (Álvaro García loaned to Racing de Santander); Granada CF, 28 August 2014 (in Spanish)
- ↑ Álvaro García cedido al Cádiz CF (Álvaro García loaned to Cádiz CF); Granada CF, 5 August 2015 (in Spanish)
- ↑ Álvaro ficha por el Cádiz para las cuatro próximas temporadas (Álvaro signs for Cádiz for the following four seasons); Cádiz CF, 19 July 2016 (in Spanish)
- ↑ "Comunicado sobre el jugador Álvaro García" [Announcement about the player Álvaro García] (in Spanish). Cádiz CF. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
- ↑ "Álvaro García descarta fichar por el Huesca" [Álvaro García discards playing for Huesca] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ↑ "Álvaro García nuevo jugador del Rayo Vallecano" [Álvaro García new player of Rayo Vallecano] (in Spanish). Rayo Vallecano. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ↑ "Álvaro García se convierte en el máximo goleador del Rayo Vallecano en Primera" [Álvaro García becomes Rayo Vallecano's top scorer in the First Division] (in Spanish). Rayo Vallecano. 20 October 2025.
- ↑ "Álvaro García supera al legendario Cota como jugador con más partidos en Primera con el Rayo" [Álvaro García surpasses the legendary Cota as the player with the most top-flight matches for Rayo] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 22 February 2026.
- ↑ Álvaro García at Soccerway
External links
edit- Álvaro García at BDFutbol
- Álvaro García at LaPreferente.com (in Spanish)
- Álvaro García at Soccerway