Carlos Javier Delgado Rodríguez (; born 22 April 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Indian Super League club Mumbai City.
Club career Early years and Sparta Born in Puerto Real, Cádiz, Andalusia, Delgado joined Málaga CF's youth system at the age of 15. In early 2008, he rejected a new contract and went on trial with Eredivisie club Sparta Rotterdam,Sparta Rotterdam trials for top Malaga prospect Carlos Delgado ; Tribal Football, 12 February 2008 finally signing in January 2009; Air Futbol, 8 January 2009 (in Spanish) but failing to make a single appearance, subsequently returning to his country and joining Real Valladolid, who assigned the player to their reserves.El Valladolid B ficha a Carlos Delgado que vuelve del filial del Sparta de Rotterdam (Valladolid B sign Carlos Delgado who returns from Sparta Rotterdam's reserves) ; Join Futbol, 7 July 2009 (in Spanish)
In summer 2010, Delgado signed with another reserve team, UD Almería B. In January of the following year, after playing only five matches in the Segunda División B, he returned to the Netherlands and Sparta on loan.; Sparta Rotterdam, 19 January 2011 (in Dutch) He made his debut for the latter – who now competed in Eerste Divisie – on 28 January, against RBC Roosendaal (4–1 home win).RBC verliest met 4–1 van Sparta (RBC lose 4–1 to Sparta) ; Roosendaal op Internet, 28 January 2011 (in Dutch) On 11 February, he scored in a 3–2 away victory over FC Dordrecht.Sparta schiet Dordtse hoop op periodetitel aan flarden [Sparta blow Dordrecht's hope for a title to smithereens]; Voetbal International, 11 February 2011 (in Dutch)
Delgado returned to Spain in July 2011, joining Orihuela CF also in the third division.El central Carlos Delgado completa la defensa (Centre-back Carlos Delgado completes defence) ; La Verdad, 30 July 2011 (in Spanish)
Valencia On 12 June 2012, Delgado signed a two-year contract with Valencia CF, being initially a part of the B-side setup in the third tier.Valencia Mestalla: llega Carlos Delgado. (Valencia Mestalla: Carlos Delgado arrives) ; esFutbol, 12 June 2012 (in Spanish) He made his debut for Mestalla on 26 August against Gimnàstic de Tarragona and, the following month, was called up to train with the main squad by manager Mauricio Pellegrino due to Ricardo Costa's injury;Valencia Mestalla, Carlos Delgado con el primer equipo (Valencia Mestalla, Carlos Delgado with the first team) ; esFutbol, 28 September 2012 (in Spanish) on the 29th, he was an unused substitute for a La Liga game against Real Zaragoza.; ESPN FC, 29 September 2012
Delgado made his competitive debut for the Che on 2 October 2012, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 home defeat of Lille OSC in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.Jonas delivers as Valencia see off LOSC; UEFA, 2 October 2012Carlos Delgado: "Ha sido un sueño debutar en Mestalla y en la Champions" (Carlos Delgado: "It was a dream to make debut at Mestalla and in the Champions League") ; La Información, 3 October 2012 (in Spanish)
Leganés On 8 August 2014, Delgado joined CD Leganés who had recently promoted to Segunda División.Carlos Delgado, refuerzo para el centro de la defensa procedente del Valencia (Carlos Delgado, addition for the center of Valencia's defence) ; CD Leganés, 8 August 2014 (in Spanish) He made his debut for the club on 23 November, starting in a 1–0 away loss against CD Mirandés.¡Oh capitán, mi capitán! (Oh captain, my captain!) ; Marca, 23 November 2014 (in Spanish)
After appearing in 13 competitive matches, Delgado was released.
Recreativo and Albacete On 2 August 2015, Delgado signed a one-year deal with Recreativo de Huelva of the third division.El central Carlos Delgado nuevo refuerzo para el Decano (Stopper Carlos Delgado new addition to the Dean) ; Recreativo Huelva, 2 August 2015 (in Spanish) On 28 June 2016 he moved to Albacete Balompié in the same league,Carlos Delgado y Álvaro Arroyo nuevos fichajes del Alba (Carlos Delgado and Álvaro Arroyo new signings of Alba) ; Albacete Balompié, 28 June 2016 (in Spanish) and achieved promotion to division two as captain.Adri, Carlos Delgado, Arroyo y Aridane elegidos capitanes para esta temporada (Adri, Carlos Delgado, Arroyo and Aridane chosen captains for this season) ; Cadena SER, 14 August 2017 (in Spanish)
Later career On 16 July 2018, free agent Delgado agreed to a three-year contract with third-tier CD Castellón.Carlos Delgado se suma a la nueva 'muralla' de Castalia (Carlos Delgado joins the new 'wall' of Castalia) ; CD Castellón, 16 July 2018 (in Spanish) One year later, he was loaned to Indian Super League club Odisha FC.; Delhi Dynamos, 11 July 2019
Delgado spent the 2021–22 season with CD Atlético Baleares in the newly created Primera División RFEF. In June 2022 he returned to Odisha, reuniting with manager Josep Gombau. He made his second debut on 17 August, in a 6–0 rout of NorthEast United FC in the Durand Cup.
On 22 August 2026, Delgado joined Mumbai City FC on a one-year deal.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAlmería B2010–11Segunda División B5000——50Sparta Rotterdam (loan)2010–11Eerste Divisie11100——111Orihuela2011–12Segunda División B31120——331Valencia2012–13La Liga000010—10Valencia B2012–13Segunda División B12000——1202013–1423100——231Total351000000351Leganés2014–15Segunda División12010——130Recreativo2015–16Segunda División B31010——320Albacete2016–17Segunda División B25010—503102017–18Segunda División17000——170Total420100050480Castellón2018–19Segunda División B33020——3502020–21Segunda División23010——240Total560300000590Odisha (loan)2019–20Indian Super League16100——161Atlético Baleares2021–22Primera División RFEF36130——391Odisha2022–23Indian Super League21040—10260Career total296515010603185
Honours Odisha Super Cup: 2023
References
External links