With England’s upcoming Nations League match against Spain coming up on Monday, here’s Part Two of a look back at the Hammers’ Spanish contingent.
Part One can be viewed here.
Diego Tristan
Diego Tristan was born on 5th January 1976 in La Algaba, Sevilla, Spain and began his career with the B teams at Real Betis and Mallorca between 1995 and 1999 before progressing to Mallorca’s first team, finishing his first La Liga campaign with 18 goals from 35 matches. He moved to Deportivo La Coruna in 2000, representing the club in the Champions League and winning the Supercopa de Espana in 2000 and the Copa del Rey in 2002.
Tristan made his international debut for Spain a year later at the age of 25, scoring in his first appearance in a 4-1 World Cup qualifying win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Oviedo. He was part of the Spain squad at the 2002 World Cup – he won 15 caps for his country, scoring four goals, with his last appearance being a 3-0 friendly win in Portugal in September 2003.
Tristan was released in the summer of 2006 alongside Lionel Scaloni, who had just completed a loan move at West Ham. Tristan returned to Mallorca but was released midway through the 2006/07 season having not scored a goal in his second spell with the club. He moved to Italy in the summer of 2007, signing for Serie A side Livorno but scored only once as the club were relegated to Serie B.
Following a two-week trial, free agent Tristan signed for Gianfranco Zola’s West Ham United in October 2008. The 32-year-old striker made his debut as a substitute in a 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham on 8th December 2008 and scored his first goal for the Hammers on 28th December 2008, the winner in a 2-1 home victory over Stoke. Employed mainly from the bench, Tristan had to wait until his ninth appearance to make his first start in claret and blue, this coming in the 1-1 draw at Blackburn in March 2009. He scored a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa on 18th April 2009, diverting Kieron Dyer’s wayward shot into the net with his head. His final goal for the Hammers was a sublime free-kick in a 1-0 win at Stoke on 2nd May 2009, with his final appearance for the club coming as a substitute in the 2-1 home win over Middlesbrough on the final day of the 2008/09 season. Diego Tristan made 17 appearances for the Hammers, scoring three goals, two of which can be seen in my video below.
Tristan returned to Spain in the summer of 2009, signing for Cadiz in the second tier – this marked a return to his native Andalusia after 14 years. He scored eight goals in 30 appearances but the club were relegated at the end of the 2009/10 campaign. Tristan retired from football at the age of 34. Now 42, Tristan scored 193 goals in 513 appearances in domestic football in Spain, Italy and England.
Alvaro Arbeloa
Alvaro Arbeloa was born on 17th January 1983 in Salamanca, Spain. He progressed from Real Madrid’s C team in 2002 to their B team (Castilla) in 2003 before making a couple of appearances for the first team in 2004/05. He joined Deportivo La Coruna in the summer of 2006 but moved to Liverpool in January 2007. Mainly operating at right-back but also able to fill in on the left, Arbeloa was a Champions League runner-up with the Reds in 2007 and made his debut for Spain in 2008; he was in the winning Spain squad for the 2008 European Championships.
Arbeloa returned to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 and won the World Cup with Spain in 2010. He won his second European Championships with his country in 2012 and won 56 caps for his country in total, without scoring. He also won the Champions League in 2014 and 2016, La Liga in 2012, the Copa del Rey in 2011 and 2014, the Supercopa de Espana in 2012, the FIFA Club World Cup in 2014 and the UEFA Super Cup in 2014.
Having been released by Real Madrid, the 33-year-old Arbeloa signed for West Ham United on a free transfer. Arbeloa made four appearances for the Hammers, making his debut in a 1-0 League Cup third round win over Accrington Stanley on 21st September 2016. He started the 3-0 home defeat to Southampton four days later He also made substitute appearances in a 1-1 home draw with Middlesbrough and in his final game, a 5-1 home defeat to Arsenal on 3rd December 2016. Now 35, Arbeloa retired in the summer of 2017.
Toni Martinez
Toni Martinez was born on 30th June 1997 in Barrio del Progreso, Murcia, Spain and began his career with hometown outfit Murcia before moving to Valencia. He played for Valencia’s B team in the Spanish third tier, scoring two goals in 16 games, before signing for West Ham for a fee of £2.4m in July 2016. He had a spell on loan at League One Oxford, scoring three goals in 17 games. He also helped West Ham’s Under-23 side earn promotion to the top tier of the Premier League 2 competition.
The 20-year-old Martinez made his Hammers first team debut as a substitute in a 0-0 FA Cup third round draw at Shrewsbury on 7th January 2018. The centre-forward helped the Irons to a 1-0 win in the replay, setting up Reece Burke’s winner. His third and most recent West Ham appearance came in the 2-0 FA Cup fourth round defeat at Wigan on 27th January this year.
Martinez joined Spanish second tier side Real Valladolid on loan for the second half of the 2017/18 campaign, scoring one goal in 11 appearances. Martinez, now 21, is currently on a season-long loan back in the Spanish second tier at Rayo Majadahonda – he has scored one goal in seven appearances for his latest club.
Lucas Perez
Lucas Perez was born on 10th September 1988 in A Coruna, Galicia, Spain and began his career in Atletico Madrid’s youth system before moving to Rayo Vallecano. He joined Ukrainian club Karpaty Lviv in 2011 and also had a spell on loan at Dynamo Kiev, where he failed to make an appearance. He moved to Greek side PAOK in 2013 but joined Deportivo La Coruna on loan for the 2014/15 season. He made the move permanent in the summer of 2015 but was on the move again in August 2016, signing for Arsenal. After just a season at the Emirates, Perez returned to Deportivo La Coruna on loan for the 2017/18 campaign.
Perez signed for Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham for a reported fee of £4m in August this year. He made his Hammers debut as a substitute in a 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth on 18th August this year. He has made six appearances to date for West Ham, scoring one goal in the 8-0 League Cup third round win over Macclesfield on 26th September 2018.