Place of birth Alicante, Spain 1993–1995 Murcia B Name Juan Valero Height 1.80 m | Years Team 1995–2008 Murcia Role Footballer | |
Full name Juan Manuel Valero Martinez Date of birth (1978-01-03) 3 January 1978 (age 38) | ||
Juan Manuel Valero Martínez (born 3 January 1978), known as Juanma, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right back.
He spent the vast majority of his 18-year senior career with Murcia.
Football career
Born in Alicante, Valencian Community, Juanma made his professional debuts with Real Murcia, first playing with the reserves and moving to the first team aged 17. He helped the club return to the second division in 2000, then retained his first-choice status in the subsequent seasons; in the 2002–03 campaign he appeared in 34 games as Murcia returned to La Liga after a 14-year absence, only to be immediately relegated back.
In the 2007 summer, after another top division promotion, longtime club captain Juanma was deemed surplus to requirements by new coach Javier Clemente, and served a loan with Hércules CF. After that he spent some months training separately and, after arranging for a release with the board of directors, joined Orihuela CF in the third level in January 2009.
Juanma retired in June 2011 at the age of 33, after a further two full seasons with Orihuela always in division three.