José Ángel Valdés Díaz (born 5 September 1989), known as José Ángel or Cote, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left-back.
He started and finished his 17-year career with Sporting de Gijón. He achieved La Liga totals of 222 games and five goals over 11 seasons with that club, Real Sociedad, Villarreal, Eibar and Osasuna, and also spent two years in the Portuguese Primeira Liga with Porto and one in the Italian Serie A with Roma.
José Ángel won the 2011 European Under-21 Championship with Spain.
Club career Sporting Gijón 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 3–1 away loss against FC Barcelona. He went on to 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 again played 13 games 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 AS 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 competitive debut on 11 September, being sent off in a 1–2 home loss 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 29 competitive games during his two-year spell in Portugal, his Primeira Liga debut arriving on 31 August 2014 in a 3–0 home defeat of Moreirense FC (90 minutes played).
José Ángel was loaned to Villarreal CF on 25 July 2016, for one year.
Later career On 14 July 2017, José Ángel signed a three-year contract with SD Eibar as a free agent. On 5 July 2021, after suffering relegation, he joined CA Osasuna on a two-year deal.
José Ángel returned to his first club Sporting in July 2022, on a two-year contract. On 5 March 2025, the 35-year-old announced his retirement at the end of the season.
International career José Ángel earned four caps for the Spain under-21 team, his debut coming on 27 March 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.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSporting Gijón B2008–09Segunda División B220———10230Sporting Gijón2008–09La Liga13140———1712009–10La Liga13020———1502010–11La Liga26010———270Total52170000000591Roma2011–12Serie A27020—20—310Real Sociedad (loan)2012–13La Liga11020———1302013–14La Liga22170—10—301Total33190001000431Porto2014–15Primeira Liga70105000—1302015–16Primeira Liga70403020—160Total14050802000290Villarreal (loan)2016–17La Liga7030—80—180Eibar2017–18La Liga30010———3102018–19La Liga35110———3612019–20La Liga28100———2812020–21La Liga14000———140Total1072200000001092Osasuna2021–22La Liga23120———251Career total285530080130103375
Honours Spain U20 Mediterranean Games: 2009
Spain U21 UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2011
References
External links