# José Ángel (footballer, born September 1989)

José Ángel Valdés Díaz (born 5 September 1989), known as José Ángel or Cote, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Sporting de Gijón.

## 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 28 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.

## International career

José Ángel earned four caps for the Spain under-21 team, his debut coming in 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

    As of match played 22 May 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National Cup | National Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Sporting Gijón B | 2008–09 | Segunda División B | 22 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| Sporting Gijón | 2008–09 | La Liga | 13 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | 1 |
| Sporting Gijón | 2009–10 | La Liga | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | 0 |
| Sporting Gijón | 2010–11 | La Liga | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27 | 0 |
| Sporting Gijón | Total | Total | 52 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 1 |
| Roma | 2011–12 | Serie A | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 0 |
| Real Sociedad (loan) | 2012–13 | La Liga | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | 0 |
| Real Sociedad (loan) | 2013–14 | La Liga | 22 | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 1 |
| Real Sociedad (loan) | Total | Total | 33 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 1 |
| Porto | 2014–15 | Primeira Liga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 |
| Porto | 2015–16 | Primeira Liga | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 |
| Porto | Total | Total | 14 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| Villarreal (loan) | 2016–17 | La Liga | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 |
| Eibar | 2017–18 | La Liga | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 31 | 0 |
| Eibar | 2018–19 | La Liga | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 36 | 1 |
| Eibar | 2019–20 | La Liga | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 28 | 1 |
| Eibar | 2020–21 | La Liga | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | 0 |
| Eibar | Total | Total | 107 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 2 |
| Osasuna | 2021–22 | La Liga | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | 1 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 285 | 5 | 29 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 336 | 5 |
* ↑ Appearance in Segunda División B relegation playoffs
* 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Appearance in UEFA Champions League
* ↑ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League

## Honours

Spain U20
* Mediterranean Games: 2009
Spain U21
* UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2011