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MIGUEL ANGEL FERRER 'MISTA'
Date of Birth: 12 November 1978
City of Birth: Caravaca, Murcia
Nationality: Spain
Contract: 2008 - 2011
Transfer: Free Transfer (2008, from Atlético)
Previous Clubs: Atlético Madrid (2006-2008), Valencia (2001-2006), Tenerife (1999-2001), Real Madrid Castilla (1997-1998), Real Madrid C (1996-1997)
Buy-out Clause: ?
Height: 184 cm
Weight: 74 kg
Position: Attacker
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 Striker Mista has a big name in Spanish football with 46 Liga goals and 2 matches for the Spanish national team in 2005. He scored 19 of those goals in the season 2003/2004 when Valencia became champions of Spain and he scored in the UEFA Cup final which was won 2-0 by Valencia against Olympique Marseille. But after 2005 things went less smoothly: Valencia signed David Villa and Mista went to Atlético where he never became an important player. The question is if Mista, who becomes thirty during the season 2008/2009, can regain confidence at Deportivo to add experience and goals to a young squad.
The history of Mista is full of ups and downs. He has been described as a natural-born goal scorer who always give his best physical effort on the pitch. Many players in Primera have once been in the youth systems of Real Madrid, and Mista has been there too. He was in their C-team during 1996/1997 and played at Real Madrid Castilla, their B-team, between 1997 and 1998 for little more than a year. His first season in the B-team he was a huge success with eighteen goals, and at the start of the second season he added one goal. He never would play in the first team and, aged nineteen, he wanted to move on when that season 1998/1999 had started. But Madrid blocked his move and pointed to his €4,5 million buy-out clause. It was never revealed for which amount he eventually was signed by Tenerife during the season 1998/1999 and it involved a legal battle (Caso Mista). A judge decided that Mista had to pay compensation to Real Madrid. It was the reason why Mista and Real Madrid never got along well after it.
Mista signed a five-year contract at Tenerife but only played 2,5 seasons for them. He debuted on 7 March 1999 against Atlético de Madrid and played the final nine matches of the season as a starter. Aged twenty, he scored three goals in a team which contained Jokanovic, Emerson and Roy Makaay. The team couldn’t avoid the drop though and Mista played two seasons with Tenerife in the Segunda División A. In 2000 he was signed by Valencia for €4,2 million, but was loaned back to Tenerife. After eighteen goals in two years, coach Rafael Benítez took both Mista and defender Curro Torres with him to Valencia in 2001. It became very successful years for the coach. Valencia immediately finished as champions of Spain and Mista’s five goals, in this solid team, were very valuable. He only was given 1137 Liga minutes for that as Ángulo and Salva were his competitors. His finest moments were on match days twenty-two and twenty-three. Valencia weren’t even on an UEFA Cup spot when Mista scored the only goal at Las Palmas and one against Bilbao (a 2-1 win). On the next match day the team conquered first spot and always remained at the two top spots until the end of the season, when they were crowned champions.
 During 2002/2003 he played a similar season. Carew had become Valencia’s starting striker, but Mista scored seven goals in 1129 Liga minutes. The difference this time was that Valencia finished the season in a disappointing way (fifth spot) although they still were title-contenders in March. In the Champions League the team reached the Quarter Finals. The season 2003/2004 was going to become ‘his’ season. Carew was loaned to AS Roma and Mista won the battle with Brazilian striker Oliveira (he would later play for Betis Sevilla, AC Milan and Zaragoza) for Valencia’s striking spot. Valencia always were at the top spots and didn’t give the first position away after April 2004. Mista only missed five matches and nineteen goals were flying in. These included one against Real Madrid, a (useless) one against Deportivo in Riazor, doubles against Atlético (twice), Espanyol and Murcia and a hat trick against Mallorca. Mista was the most scoring Spanish player in the Primera División. The crown on their work was the UEFA Cup which was won on 19 May 2004 against Olympique Marseille. Mista scored Valencia’s second goal and was Player of the Match. He wasn’t included in Spain’s squad for the 2004 UEFA European Championship tough.
But the season after it became a huge disappointment. Benítez resigned and Ranieri arrived. Valencia didn’t survive the first group of the Champions League and was moved to the UEFA Cup, where Steaua Bucharest eliminated them after penalties. In the Primera División the team was very irregular. Valencia were first at the end of September 2004, crushed Deportivo 1-5 in Riazor, but six weeks later had dropped to seventh place. The team bounced back to clinch second spot at the end of December but then threw it away to finish seventh. Mista had a tough time competing with Italians Di Vaio and Corrode and only was a regular starter from February on, but still scored eight goals in 1772 minutes. It was said that Valencia were forcing him to sign a new contract, but he refused to do so, and the club officials prevented him from getting more minutes. Sometimes he wasn’t even in their squad. The good thing was that Mista played two matches for the Spanish national team that year. In the end he did sign a renewal, but the signing of 23-years old David Villa was the end for Mista though. Valencia, with Quique Sánchez Flores as their coach, were very stable in the season 2005/2006 and finished third after always having been at the top spots. David Villa was their starting striker and he reached the enormous amount of twenty-five goals. Mista had become a substitute and played his worst season in Primera until that moment: 1055 Liga minutes and just one goal (Valencia’s third during a 4-0 win against Espanyol). When Valencia signed Fernando Morientes for the season 2006/2007, it was clear that Mista’s destination would be elsewhere.
 Atlético de Madrid were prepared to give 27-year old Mista a second chance when they gave him a contract in 2006 until 2009 for a €4,5 million compensation to Valencia. Mista played the Teresa Herrera tournament with Atlético, started six of their first seven matches of the season and scored a goal at the Bernabéu against Real Madrid (a 1-1 draw). Bad luck struck when he suffered an injury in October at… Riazor. He was out for one month, and when he returned his partner Fernando Torres had formed a new duo with Agüero. Mista became their back-up, but sometimes all three of them were fielded like in the match at Valencia. Mista scored his second goal of the season that night and produced a third on 11 March 2007 against… Deportivo. It killed off the final hopes of Caparrós’ team to earn an European spot although Atlético themselves missed that opportunity too after a dramatic finish to the season. Atlético were hurt, once more, and used the money (and more) they received for Fernando Torres to sign attacking players Diego Forlán, Simão, Luís García and Reyes. Add to this the presence of Agüero, and it is easily explained why Mista had a dramatic season 2007/2008 in Madrid. Agüero and Forlán scored thirty-four goals in the Primera División and, finally, Atlético claimed a spot in the Champions League after a 1-0 win against… Deportivo. It had been twelve years ago since they had done that for the last time. Mista played a miserable six matches (175 minutes) and didn’t score a single goal for the first time in his career.
 ‘Sean Penn’, as he’s nicknamed, knew that it had become impossible to become a starter at one of the biggest clubs in Spain with so many competitors. Nobody was impressed with the four goals that he had scored in his three latest seasons in the Primera División. Atlético coach Aguirre made clear that he wasn’t going to count on Mista for the season 2008/2009, and club and player decided to cancel his contract. This was done on 26 June 2008 and one day later he had found a new club: Deportivo. Mista and Deportivo weren’t new to each other. In August 2007 he was on Deportivo’s short list and Lotina even described the player: “Mista is a great player, but not a typical striker. He gave best results playing as second striker like Riki. Besides, I don’t think that he wants to leave Atlético. What we need is a striker up front, and Mista hasn’t played at this position”. Five months later, when Mista still wasn’t playing at Atlético and Deportivo were desperate for goals, his name was back in the news papers as a possible loan. But Mista’s agent quickly made clear that this wasn’t an option: “Mista wants to stay at Atlético. He’s always in their squad and he isn’t a 22-year old boy going on a loan. If he goes, it will be a transfer. This summer he rejected an offer from Espanyol, and we haven’t heard anything from Deportivo”. Lotina admitted tough that Mista had been discussed at Deportivo.
Depor Sport announced on 27 June 2008 that Mista would sign a three-year contract at Deportivo. Mista became the second (free) signing of Deportivo after the one of Mexican Omar Bravo. Lendoiro simply had been waiting for Mista to cancel his contract with Atlético and jumped on him. Several sources claimed that Lotina personally had asked for his signing, but he denied this. “I liked the option, but it wasn’t my idea. I know that he’s 29-years old and hasn’t played much lately, but we want to see the Mista of Valencia. He knows what I expect from him. I noticed that he’s hopeful and I’m too. He must give 90% and we will add the remaining 10%”. Lotina also was asked about Mista’s role in the team, as one year earlier he had called Mista a second striker. “I want Mista to play as striker up front or as second striker behind it. But at first we aren’t going to play with Xisco, Omar Bravo and Mista in one team. It’s good to have competition in the team”.
 Meanwhile, Mista was delighted that an important Spanish team had signed him and explained why his choice had been Deportivo: “Because I talked with Lotina. He explained me the project and they gave me a lot of confidence since the first moment and I felt proud. I want to return to be the player which I was a few years ago. And I want to repay this confidence to Deportivo. Fortunately my difficult time at Atlético is over”. Mista called Deportivo “a club with great players like Sergio and Valerón, and a lot of others”. Although the signature of Mista was cheap, his salary won’t. It’s said that he earns about €2 million per season which would make him one of the best paid players of the squad. Still it seems that he rejected better economical offers coming from Greece and Turkey. His agent confirmed said: “This shows that it’s not the money. He wants to play and to achieve important things. It should be clear that he doesn’t walk the simplest ways”.
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