Iván Cuéllar Sacristán (born 27 May 1984), nicknamed Pichu, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Mallorca.
Developed at Atlético Madrid, he spent most of his career with Sporting de Gijón, where he made 247 total appearances.
Club career Atlético Madrid Cuéllar was born in Mérida, Extremadura, and earned his nickname "Pichu" – local dialect for a young boy – from a cousin. He spent time at Real Madrid before continuing his development at hometown club Mérida UD, where he made his senior debut aged 17 in a 1–0 loss away to Granada CF in Segunda División B. After completing his youth career at Atlético Madrid, he made his first appearance for the first team in the last matchday of the 2004–05 season, in a 2–2 draw against neighbours Getafe CF.
In 2006–07, benefitting from the forced absence of starter Leo Franco, Cuéllar played a further seven games, including a 0–6 home defeat to FC Barcelona on 20 May 2007.
Sporting Gijón After a season-long loan at Segunda División club SD Eibar, featuring in all the matches save four, Cuéllar was released by Atlético (as another youth graduate in the same position, Ismael Falcón) and joined Sporting de Gijón in August 2008, on a four-year contract. After Sergio Sánchez conceded 19 goals in the season's first four games he became the starter but, following a collision with Athletic Bilbao's Carlos Gurpegui during a 3–0 away defeat on 14 December, suffered a serious ankle injury which rendered him unavailable for four months.
In mid-November 2009, as he was second choice to Juan Pablo, Cuéllar suffered another severe injury, damaging his knee in training and being lost for the vast majority of the campaign. His first appearance after recovering would take place on 22 September 2010, as manager Manuel Preciado rested the vast majority of the starters for a Wednesday match at Barcelona – in a week where all the teams played three matches – which ended in a 1–0 loss.
In January 2013, after the departure of Juan Pablo to Maccabi Tel Aviv FC, Cuéllar became the starter. He won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for best goalkeeper in 2014–15, conceding 21 goals in 36 appearances as the Asturians returned to La Liga. At the end of the season, he extended his contract until 2018.
Leganés Cuéllar ended his nine-year association with the El Molinón-based team in July 2017, and the 33-year-old signed for CD Leganés also in the top tier. As Jon Ander Serantes was nursing a serious injury, he took the number one position and went on to record a club and personal best clean sheet of over 500 minutes that was broken by Sevilla FC in October.
Return to Sporting On 29 August 2021, Cuéllar returned to Sporting on a two-year contract. He was second-choice to Diego Mariño and did not play until 20 March when he profited from the latter's injury to play in a 1–1 draw at Leganés; he then had a run of ten consecutive games in which he kept only two clean sheets but never conceded more than once, as the team narrowly avoided relegation.
Mallorca On 28 August 2023, Cuéllar signed a one-year deal with top-tier RCD Mallorca, in order to provide competition for Dominik Greif and Predrag Rajković.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsMérida2001–02Segunda División B10——10Atlético Madrid B2003–04Segunda División B20——202004–05Segunda División150——150Total170——170Atlético Madrid2002–03La Liga0000—002003–04La Liga0000—002004–05La Liga1000—102005–06La Liga0000—002006–07La Liga7020—90Total8020—100Eibar (loan)2007–08Segunda División38000—380Sporting Gijón2008–09La Liga18000—1802009–10La Liga0020—202010–11La Liga13020—1502011–12La Liga1020—302012–13Segunda División23040—2702013–14Segunda División40000204202014–15Segunda División36000—3602015–16La Liga32000—3202016–17La Liga36000—360Total1990100202110Leganés2017–18La Liga35000—3502018–19La Liga34020—3602019–20La Liga27010—2802020–21Segunda División2700000270Total123030001260Sporting Gijón2021–22Segunda División10000—1002022–23Segunda División25010—260Total35010—360Mallorca2023–24La Liga1010—202024–25La Liga0000—002025–26La Liga0010—10Total1020—30Career total4220180204420
Honours Spain U23 Mediterranean Games: 2005
Individual Segunda División: Ricardo Zamora Trophy/Best Goalkeeper 2014–15
References
External links Sporting Gijón official profile