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ADRIÁN LÓPEZ ALVAREZ
Date of Birth: 8 January 1988
City of Birth: Teverga, Asturias
Nationality: Spain
Contract: 2006 - 2011
Transfer: €165.000 (2006, from Oviedo) (Oviedo will receive 5% from a future sale)
Previous Clubs: Málaga (2008-2009), Alavés (2008), Deportivo (2006-2007), Real Oviedo (2004-2006)
Buy-out Clause: ?
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 71 kg
Position: Attacker (central)
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 Adrián is one of Deportivo’s biggest talents, but his progress was being halted and he plays the season 2008/2009 on loan at Málaga in the Primera División. He was a surprise signing in the summer of 2006 when new signing Bodipo got injured, and 19-year old Adrián made a lasting impressing against FC Barcelona at the Nou Camp. But with Lotina he came to play less while the rivalry of Xisco, Omar Bravo, Riki and Mista wasn’t promising for the development of the Asturian defender. It’s not that Lotina doesn’t trust upon him, because once he called him the ‘white Ronaldo’. But he’ll become twenty-one in the season 2008/2009 and couldn’t afford another year on the bench.
Asturias is a Spanish region known for having brought up much talented players like Luís Enrique, David Villa, Abelardo, Maceda and Manjarín (ex-Deportivo). Adrián can follow their footsteps if he continues the development which he experienced during the past two years. He arrived at Real Oviedo coming from the youth system of Covadonga and played in the Liga Nacional and División de Honor. From Oviedo B he made a jump into Oviedo’s first squad during his first year at the club and during the season 2005/2006 he scored three goals in twenty-six matches playing in the Segunda B (the current level of Deportivo B). These numbers, at that level, didn’t seem to indicate that fast Adrián is talented as was said. But in 2005 it were Real Madrid who tried to sign him for their B-team Real Madrid Castilla. Back then, Oviedo might have laughed at the offer of €18.000. One year later Lendoiro appeared. He started negotiations with Oviedo but no agreement was reached, despite Depor’s offer of €250.000. Oviedo simply didn’t want to sell while Betis Sevilla were also interested.
 Depor’s initial idea was to hire him for Deportivo B as a youth player, but the only opportunity to sign Adrián arrived on the last day of the summer market in 2006: with Bodipo’s injury an opportunity in the first squad was opened. Adrián didn’t have a professional contract at Oviedo because he was a youth player. The only way to get him for free was to offer him a professional contract. And that was what Deportivo did. The player himself was not only attracted by the money and Depor’s status, but for an important part by the presence of coach Caparrós. Oviedo protested at the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) because they were convinced that the player still belonged to them. A case was born. In October 2006 it was decided that Adrián was a Deportivo player and Deportivo were ordered to pay Oviedo a €330.000 compensation.
Adrián made his debut at Deportivo on 25 October 2006 against Racing de Santander for the Copa del Rey. This was quickly followed with Liga entries against Getafe and Barcelona. On 12 November he started his first Liga match at Deportivo at Gimnástic, when the Galicians probably used their youngest offensive line since promotion to the highest level in 1991. This line consisted of Verdú (23), Cristián (23), Adrián (18) and Arizmendi (22). Unfortunately, the match finished 0-0 and Riki replaced Adrián during half-time. Adrián had done a good job, but Deportivo’s attacking line seemed inexistent and Caparrós had to do something. After it, Adrián was given more than a dozen of Liga entries, most of them as a substitute. His first goal, in the Copa del Rey, he scored on 10 January 2007 when at Mallorca the way was paved towards the Quarter Finals (1-2).
 Deportivo wanted him to have more minutes though. And that was difficult in La Coruña. The years of strikers like Makaay, Tristán, Luque and Pandiani were over. But Arizmendi became a Spanish international player those weeks and there also was expensive signing Riki (from Getafe). Besides, Taborda returned from his injury and Bodipo was close to his recovery. To fill up possible gaps if Adrián was loaned out, Deportivo B striker Rubén Rivera was considered. Also, the Galicians wanted to have young striker Xisco back from his loan deal at Vecindario and offered Adrián (together with Iago) in return. That deal collapsed though. First of all, the Vecindario board were satisfied with Xisco’s presence. Next, Adrián and his agent considered it best for Adrián to stay and learn at Deportivo instead going to the island. “My objective is to learn because I’m still young”, Adrián commented. “And I think here I can learn much more here”. It caused a row between Lendoiro and Adrián’s agent and left Caparrós unsatisfied.
His finest moment of the season 2006/2007 arrived when on 31 March 2007 he entered Depor’s Liga match in the Nou Camp in the 61st minute. The Catalans were leading 2-0 by then, but ended up wasting time and asking the referee to finish the match. Why? Mainly because of Adrián. His goal, just seven minutes after he came on, was pure class based on speed and a fine touch. He caused havoc in Barça’s defence, but neither could he snatch a point for the Galicians. Adrián said that he was happy with his first goal in Primera but he left the stadium with a bitter taste in his mouth: “I’m happy with the goal, but not with the final result. We did a good job, especially in the first half, but Barcelona’s first goal was crucial and hurt us. But we showed courage during ninety minutes”. Adrián was the talk of the town, and said that he had exchanged shirts with Puyol. “For me he’s one of the best defenders in the world and it was a great opportunity for me”. But he also kept both feet on the ground: “I will try to become the striker that the fans want to see. But I still have a lot to learn and everyday I do the best I can”. Caparrós protected him: “He is gaining confidence and let’s see how he does in the next week. Now it’s important to leave him alone because the boy doesn’t need to be in the spotlights. I particularly liked his statement after the match, that’s his first thought after his goal was to grab the ball as a draw was still a real possibility”.
 Adrián had his opportunities after the Barcelona match as he started against Gimnástic, Celta de Vigo, Osasuna Pamplona and Recreativo Huelva in the Liga and against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey (Adrián missed the return match because his grandfather had died). The problem was that the Deportivo squad were quite safe from relegation and bigger targets weren’t possibly anymore. Several players had a difficult relation with coach Caparrós, and the results of the final weeks were horrible. It was not realistic to expect from 19-year old Adrián to fix the mistakes, and he didn’t. Adrián tried what he could, but in most of these matches was quite isolated. In the mean time, Oviedo and Deportivo altered the terms of the verdict about Adrián and agreed on a €165.000 transfer sum and Oviedo will receive 5% if Adrián is sold by the Galicians. When the season ended, Adrián said that he was satisfied with his personal situation: “I’m satisfied with the minutes I’ve played and the important thing now is to keep progressing”.
Another highlight would be the FIFA U-20 World Cup that was played in July in Canada. Adrián qualified with the Spanish U-19 team for the annual UEFA U-19 European Football Championship and was picked for the U-20 team together with Barragán. His rivals for a striking spot were Valencia’s Mata and Alberto Bueno from Real Madrid Castilla. Both of them started the match against Uruguay, but national coach Ginés Meléndez needed a goal of substitute Adrián and an injury-time equalizer of Sevilla’s Capel to secure a draw. Adrián started in the second group match, against Zambia, but didn’t score during the 2-1 victory. Spain, with Adrián as a starter, secured a pass to the next round against Jordan with a pure hat trick of Adrián in the pace of nine minutes (a record in Spain’s history). In the next round, Spain met Brazil and once again were 0-2 down. Adrián had started the match and Spain equalized, while goals of Bueno and Adrián secured a 4-2 in extra-time. Unfortunately, Spain and the Czech Republic both scored a goal in extra-time and this Quarter Finals went to penalties. During normal time, Adrián had missed a big opportunity and he was replaced by Bueno. Spain lost on penalties and were eliminated. Argentina won the tournament and Agüero became top scorer with six goals, followed by Adrián with five goals.
 The tournament increased the status of Adrián. Lotina mentioned that the player had “evolved” and that he wasn’t looking for a new striker. Adrián himself returned to La Coruña two weeks after Spain were eliminated and regretted Spain’s exit: “We were better than the Czech Republic, but it wasn’t to be”. He was asked about the enormous chance that he missed after eighty minutes, and he admitted that he still felt bad for it. “But football is like this and one can’t always have success. For me it was difficult because it was me who failed. Despite this, we played well and deserved to win. We generated most opportunities, but lost with penalties”. The striker was one of the most popular players in an online voting system of FIFA, but he said that “this shouldn’t affect me. I am happy with my performance and it permits me to grow, but I am still the same person. I still have to learn a lot”. Adrián also was asked about other Asturian players (Manu, Jairo, Pablo Álvarez) in the squad of Deportivo: “It’s always nice to have people from your own region. Pablo already was here last year and I know Manu and Jairo. I’m happy that they’ve come”. Lotina became to know Adrián as a player who “possesses goal scoring abilities and is fast. He can make short manoeuvres in the area and always thinks about scoring. Such players are born to decide matches”. Cádiz was related to him before the tournament, and now Mallorca appeared in the press with an €3 million which Lendoiro rejected.
Adrián had only four weeks to prove himself, but Lotina quickly admitted that “we count on him for next season. But he needs to have a different rhythm”. Adrián had to get minutes quickly, and he started to play against quality opponents like Racing de Ferrol (Segunda A) and Lugo (Segunda B). The entrance of Lafita, Adrián and Guardado turned the match at Ferrol around (a 1-2 win) as the Mexican and Adrián scored a goal. Two days later, Adrián started next to Riki in Lotina’s 4-4-2 system and scored both goals at Lugo (a 0-2 win). Ten days after the Lugo match, Adrián (wearing number twelve on his shirt) was the preferred choice of Lotina to start (with Riki) against Almería in the first Liga match of the season 2007/2008. But this went completely wrong. Five minutes after the break, Almería were 0-3 up and Lotina brought Taborda for a disappeared Adrián. It’s not that it was Adrián’s fault, as Deportivo’s midfield was non-existent with Riki and Adrián being isolated upfront. Adrián said about this match: “It’s evident that Almería were the better team and it’s a shame for us to start the season in this way. I feel sorry for the fans and don’t know what happened. With what we showed on the pitch we can’t fool anyone. Almería simply didn’t give us a chance”.
The Almería defeat had its consequences for Adrián. Lotina didn’t use him in the next four matches although it was rumoured that Adrián was going to start Deportivo’s third match of the season against Betis Sevilla. Before that match, Lotina reached headlines in the news when he called Adrián “the white Ronaldo, in both the good ways and the bad. He is a player of tremendous quality; in one-on-one situations he's excellent, and he is in phenomenal condition. However, in the future he needs to press harder and deploy himself better on the pitch. It’s not that he doesn’t work hard, but he needs to have another approach. In any case, he has great potential, and if he's near the opposite goal he moves very intelligently to get into space. He will become a great player, and only he himself will define at what level”.
 Other good news of those weeks was the inclusion of Adrián, together with Xisco and Barragán, for the Iñaki Sáez’ U-21 Spanish team playing against Georgia in a qualification match for the U-21 UEFA Championship. Xisco started, scored goal and was replaced because of an injury by Adrián. The Asturian striker added another goal and Spain won 4-0. Xisco was going to miss that Betis match, but in the end Lotina opted for Riki upfront with three creative players behind him. Lotina never returned to use the 4-4-2 system again which meant that Adrián’s chances to have minutes decreased. Xisco was going to have his breakthrough in the season 2007/2008, Bodipo was his back-up and Taborda was the one for emergency cases. After the Georgia match, newspaper La Opinión A Coruña asked the two young international strikers several questions, like the characteristic the one would like to have of the other and an aspect that was seen as an advantage over the other. Adrián replied: “His car, because I don’t still have my drivers licence… No, seriously, Xisco is stronger than me and more powerful and he also is better in the aerial game. I think that I am more technically gifted, but he’s better in keeping possession and it’s difficult to steal it from him”. For his part, Xisco called Adrián “a player with more qualities than me. He also has a better shot. We’re simply different, although we both are fast”. Both players admitted that they had become friends. Adrián said: “Xisco is really a good guy and he’s laughing the whole day”. Xisco replied: “Indeed I’m laughing always because he is messing with me and doing foolish things”.
Adrián was given two late entries in the matches against Recreativo (a 0-2 loss) and Espanyol (a 1-0 loss), but the whole team was not productive those days although Adrián was the most dangerous man against the Andalucians. After six matches, Deportivo went into the relegation zone and had only scored three goals. The next match, the 0-1 win at Sevilla, decided Deportivo’s line-up for the months after with Verdú and Xisco forming the attacking line. Adrián had to wait twelve weeks before he was given another opportunity in the Liga. He missed making the Deportivo squad against Valencia because of a muscle injury, but was fit for other confrontations. Iñaki Sáez too noticed his absence on the pitch and in November he wasn’t picked for the Spanish U-21 team (Xisco and defender Adrián López were). Iñaki Sáez said: “For this moment we won’t call him. He hasn’t played lately and we can’t wait for that. We only pick players who are in fine form”. Lotina had six options in the striking zone, and mentioned that “one of them has to go in January. If Adrián still isn’t playing at the end of the year, we must reconsider the options. At his age it’s clear that he needs to play not matter if it’s here or elsewhere. But I don’t throw players in or out of a team, they do it themselves. Adrián is a player with tremendous qualities, but this isn’t the right moment for him”. Adrián himself asked for an opportunity on the pitch, not mattering where: “I would play as second striker or at the wings. I simply want to use the opportunity. I need minutes because I’m young, but things don’t look good”. Adrián said that he would love to stay at Deportivo but that he wouldn’t reject a loan deal. It was rumoured that he was going to start at Bilbao, but he wasn’t even picked for the squad and neither was he for the next matches against Osasuna and FC Barcelona.
The Copa match at Espanyol, the first of the season, was a perfect opportunity to see Adrián again. He was Deportivo’s single striker during the 1-1 draw, and did fine. He even scored from a header, but the goal was disallowed for a non-existent offside situation of colleague Adrián López. Lotina rewarded him with a reappearance in the Liga at Levante. Adrián replaced Lafita with twenty-seven minutes remaining and the team scored the crucial goal in this relegation battle. Lotina was going to give Adrián opportunities in the next three Liga matches too. Adrián missed the Copa return against Espanyol because of a small injury, but replaced Rubén Castro during the 0-3 defeat against Atlético. Adrián was going to be Deportivo’s starting striker in the next confrontations at Villarreal and Almería and he won the battle with Riki, Xisco, Bodipo and Rubén Castro for that spot. Deportivo played an heroic match at fifth-placed Villarreal with Riki (left) and Guardado (right) at the wings and Adrián upfront. It could have been Adrián’s inexperience that became a problem. First, Adrián brought Villarreal back into the match when he caused a penalty kick by preventing to block a free-kick with his arm and later he wasted a big opportunity to give Deportivo another lead. Xisco replaced him with thirty minutes remaining. But Lotina repeated attacking line-up which had scored three goals at Villarreal, and Adrián started the crucial match at Almería. But again Adrián missed a good opportunity to score (after Riki hit the crossbar). Minutes after he was replaced by Taborda, Almería scored the decisive goal and put Deportivo in their worst position during the season 2007/2008. Adrián’s next pick for the squad was in April when the team were quite safe already. Injuries and technical decisions of Lotina had kept him out of the squads until then.
 A loan deal was never established during the winter months (Cádiz were interested), but now Lotina admitted that he had received a call from Alavés about Adrián’s availability. The Basques were involved in a tough fight to avoid relegation from Segunda A, and needed fire power for the remaining ten matches. It didn’t take long before the deal was materialized and Adrián joined Jairo at Alavés. Lotina encouraged Adrián and said that “Tamudo was once loaned to Alavés and Lleida and David Silva played at Éibar and Celta. Both of them now are major players”. The deal was effective. In his first match, Adrián came in and his side turned around a 0-1 score to win 2-1 and Adrián was involved in that second goal. Two weeks later, Adrián scored both goals against Elche (2-0) which were intelligent ones. At the first, he lobbed the ball into to goal from a difficult angle. At the second, he needed just one touch from a long pass to coolly place the ball pas the opponent’s goalkeeper. Near the end of the campaign, Adrián scored Alavés’ equalizer in the derby match against Real Sociedad which the Basques won 3-2 after having been down near the end (Jairo second the second goal of Alavés).
Early June, Adrián was named in the ‘bronze team’ of Spain during the Fútbol Draft 2008 awards held in Madrid. This award concerns players who were between sixteen and twenty in the season 2007/2008 and eleven players are picked (by coaches Iñaki Sáez and Ginés Meléndez and ex-players Gica Craioveanu and Alberto López) for the golden, silver and bronze teams. Defender Adrián López was in the ‘golden’ team together with players like Crespo (Sevilla), Cesc (Arsenal), Mata (Valencia), Capel (Sevilla) and Bojan (Barcelona). Fabricio was the goalkeeper of the bronze team and Adrián the striker. In this way, Adrián was voted third best striker after Bojan (FC Barcelona) and José Callejón (Real Madrid Castilla). It was the second consecutive time that Adrián was in Spain’s bronze team. Later, Lotina said that he was convinced that Adrián was going to become an important striker at Deportivo and in Spanish football. “What I don’t know is the time that he needs to achieve that. Hopefully it will be as short as possible. I saw him with Alavés against Real Sociedad and he was phenomenal. Because the Segunda A ended quite late, Adrián only had to return back to La Coruña on July 20. There he encountered two experienced new colleagues in Mista and Omar Bravo. Lotina’s system of the season 2007/2008, with one striker supported by several creative players, had proved to be every effective and all indicates that he will repeat that for the season 2008/2009. During the pre-season, it was Riki who occupied the striker role but it’s likely that he’ll compete with Xisco for that. Mista and Omar Bravo, like Riki, also can be used as second striker but they encounter competition with Guardado, Lafita and Valerón for that. All in all it made the situation very complicated for Adrián to get minutes. In August a loan deal with Málaga seemed to have collapsed, but on 14 August 2008 it was confirmed.
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