Kike García is pleased to have had a spell at Middlesbrough earlier in this career.
The 35-year-old has been with Deportivo Alavés since 2023 and spoke to AS to review his long career.
García was at Middlesbrough between 2014 and 2016 when Aitor Karanka was in charge at the club.
The striker spent over 18 months at Middlesbrough, who were then in the Championship. He played 75 matches in all competitions for the English club, managing 16 goals and four assists in the process.
Karanka was instrumental in the Spaniard’s arrival at the Riverside Stadium as the latter knew the manager from their time at Spain’s youth team.
The attacker graduated from Real Murcia’s academy and spent five years with their first team before joining Middlesbrough in 2014.
AS state the former Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City manager called García to join him at Middlesbrough. The newspaper asked what he discovered at Boro.
When responding to that, the player only had positive things to say about his experience of playing in England. He also went on to hail the Middlesbrough supporters.
“Yes, with Murcia in the middle, a second division great, fighting until the last day to go up,” he said.
“Aitor called me, whom I knew from the lower categories of the national team. We got along very well, and he showed me the project he had, which was to take Middlesbrough to the first division.
“A club that was also a great one, which had played in the UEFA final with Sevilla before. And I didn’t think about it, the truth is that it was a pleasure to go there and get to know that world, England, another football, how it’s lived.
“I have already known that football, I am also delighted by how they treated me there, by the fans and the truth is that I am super happy with the step I took at that moment.”
