Javier Manquillo

Javier Manquillo Gaitán (born 5 May 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for La Liga club Celta.

Developed at Atlético Madrid, he played only 17 matches with the first team, spending most of his time in the reserve team or out on loan. He made over 125 appearances in England's Premier League with Liverpool, Sunderland and Newcastle United, and reached the Coupe de France final with Marseille in 2016.

Manquillo represented Spain at youth level.

Atlético Madrid
Born in Madrid, Manquillo started playing football with hometown's Real Madrid alongside his twin brother Víctor, a forward. However, in mid-2007, the club decided to release the latter and the former followed suit, with both signing for neighbouring Atlético Madrid 48 hours later.

On 8 December 2011, Manquillo made his competitive debut for the first team, starting in a 2–1 away loss against Albacete Balompié in the Copa del Rey (3–1 on aggregate). He was subsequently an unused substitute in the matches against Real Sociedad and Málaga.

On 28 November 2012, again in the domestic cup, Manquillo appeared in his second game with Atlético's main squad, featuring 63 minutes in a 3–0 victory at Real Jaén. On 6 December, he featured in the 1–0 away defeat to Viktoria Plzeň in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. His debut in La Liga came on 9 December, coming on for Filipe Luís late into the second half of a 6–0 home win over Deportivo La Coruña. On 3 September 2013, he signed a contract extension, keeping him at the Vicente Calderón Stadium until June 2018.

On 11 February 2014, in the first half of the Spanish Cup semi-final clash against Real Madrid, Manquillo was involved in two incidents with Cristiano Ronaldo: in the early minutes, he conceded a penalty which the Portuguese converted in the first goal of an eventual 2–0 win (5–0 aggregate). Later, after both went for an aerial challenge, he fell headfirst to the ground, going on to be sidelined for more than one month with a neck injury.

Manquillo joined Premier League club Liverpool on 6 August 2014 on a two-year loan with an option to buy after his first season. He made his debut 11 days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 Premier League victory over Southampton. On 16 September, he won a 93rd-minute penalty in the UEFA Champions League tie against Ludogorets Razgrad, which Steven Gerrard converted to make the score 2–1 and win the match. The following week, in the third round of the Football League Cup, he converted his penalty shoot-out attempt against Middlesbrough as his team prevailed 14–13 following a 2–2 draw. After featuring in 16 matches during the first part of the season, he played just three times in 2015, never in the domestic league, and Atlético Madrid subsequently confirmed that the loan deal had been terminated.

On 27 July 2015, Manquillo joined Ligue 1 club Marseille on loan for the 2015–16 season, with an option to buy. He made 43 total appearances, including the 4–2 loss to rivals Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France final on 21 May.

Manquillo returned to the Premier League on 25 August 2016, joining Sunderland for the whole season. He had what he described as a difficult season on a personal basis, while the Wearsiders were relegated; he totalled 22 appearances and had a clause that would make his transfer permanent for £9.5 million were he to play 25 games. In his final game on 21 May, he scored his first career goal to open the scoring after three minutes at Chelsea, who won 5–1.

Newcastle United
On 21 July 2017, Manquillo signed for Premier League club Newcastle United on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported by the local Evening Chronicle to be £4.5 million; he was signed by compatriot manager Rafael Benítez. He made his debut on 13 August as the season began with a 2–0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur.

Manquillo signed a new contract on 25 June 2020, tying him to St James' Park until 2024. He scored his first goal on 11 September 2021, in a 4–1 league loss away to Manchester United.

Manquillo's playing time became limited following the signing of England international Kieran Trippier, resulting in only 4 substitute appearances in the 2022-23 Premier League season.

Celta Vigo
On 21 January 2024, Manquillo joined Celta Vigo on a one-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee after failing to make a senior appearance for Newcastle United in the Premier League up until that point in the 2023–24 season, At Celta Vigo, he reunited with manager Rafael Benítez, who had signed him for Newcastle United. He made his debut on 4 February in a 3–0 win over Osasuna, being subbed after 73 minutes.

International career
Manquillo earned 25 caps for Spain at youth level, including seven for the under-21s. He made his debut at that level on 4 September 2014, starting in a 1–0 win away to Hungary in 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification.

Honours
Atlético Madrid
 * La Liga: 2013–14

Marseille
 * Coupe de France runner-up: 2015–16

Newcastle United
 * EFL Cup runner-up: 2022–23

Spain U19
 * UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2012