Manuel Almunia

Manuel Almunia Rivero is a goalkeeper of Watford. He was born on 19 May 1977 in Pamplona, Spain.

Manuel’s professional career took off in the reserve team of Osasuna in 1997. The footballer made 44 appearances and netted one goal for the squad during two years. In 1999, Almunia joined the main team, but was immediately sent on a season-long loan to FC Cartagena. In the summer 2000, the keeper penned a contract with Sabadell and took part in 25 fixtures for the club during one year.

In the summer 2001, Manuel transferred to Celta Vigo, but failed to make his début for ‘Os Celestes’ due to long temporary spells. From 2001 till 2004, the footballer performed on loan for Eibar, Recreativo Huelva and Albacete.

On 14 July 2004, Almunia sealed a deal with English side Arsenal and made his first appearance for the new club on 27 October the same year in the League Cup match against Manchester City. The keeper took part in all games of the tournament and managed to feature in the 2006 UEFA Champions League finals, where Arsenal first-choice goalie Jens Lehmann was sent off in the 19th minute. By the 2007/2008 season, Manuel clinched a regular place between the posts, but got an elbow injury and was sentenced to a long period without football. The player managed to make a full recovery, but fell out of favour of the head coach and became a third-choice keeper after Wojciech Szczęsny and Łukasz Fabiański.

On 30 September 2011, Almunia completed an emergency one-month loan move to West Ham United, because their goalkeeper Robert Green was out of action due to an injury. After returning to Arsenal, the footballer did not take part in any games and was released from the club in the summer 2012.

In July 2012, Championship side Watford secured Manuel’s services on permanent basis.