Full name Jose Angel Valdes Diaz 1994–1996 Roces Weight 77 kg Place of birth Gijon, Spain Name Jose Valdes Career start 2008 | Playing position Role Footballer Number 14 Height 1.82 m | |
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Date of birth (1989-09-05) 5 September 1989 (age 26) Profiles | ||
Current team FC Porto (#14 / Defender) | ||
Clip Jose Ángel 3 "COTE" by Ermes79
José Ángel Valdés Díaz (born 5 September 1989), known as José Ángel or Cote, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Villarreal CF on loan from Portuguese club FC Porto as a left back.
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Sporting
Born in Gijón, Asturias, José Ángel was a product of hometown Sporting de Gijón's prolific youth system, Mareo. He made his first-team and La Liga debut on 8 February 2009 in a 1–3 away loss against FC Barcelona, and went on to still feature regularly for the duration of the season as the side narrowly avoided a drop, adding a goal in a 3–2 home win over Deportivo de La Coruña.
In 2009–10, José Ángel appeared in another 13 matches for the first team, as they retained once again their top division status (15th position). In the following campaigns, he continued battling for position with another club youth graduate, Roberto Canella, with both players appearing in roughly the same number of matches.
Roma
On 19 July 2011, Serie A club A.S. Roma reached an agreement with Sporting Gijón for the transfer of José Ángel, joining compatriot Luis Enrique who had just been appointed team manager. The former paid €4.5 million for his services, plus bonuses. He made his official debut on 11 September, against Cagliari Calcio.
José Ángel spent the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons on loan to Real Sociedad, mainly acting as backup to Alberto de la Bella during his spell.
Porto
In July 2014, José Ángel joined FC Porto for free, with Roma being eligible to receive 50% of any future transfer fee. He appeared in only 28 competitive games during his two-year spell in Portugal, his Primeira Liga debut arriving on 31 August 2014 in a 3–0 home win against Moreirense FC (90 minutes played).
On 25 July 2016, José Ángel was loaned to Villarreal CF for one year.
International career
José Ángel gained four caps for the Spanish under-21 team, his debut coming in 2009. He was selected by manager Luis Milla to the squad that appeared – and won – the 2011 UEFA European Championship in Denmark, being an unused member as RCD Espanyol's Dídac Vilà played all the matches and minutes.