Sergio Mantecón: “If I could, I would sign Vinicius for Elche”

Sergio Mantecon (Madrid, 1980) He has done almost everything in Elche. Mante, as his friends call him, He was a player, captain and even served as interim coach this season after the dismissal of Fran Write and the arrival of Francisco. But for years, he has been Elche’s technical secretary. it was with George Lamb, with Nico Rodriguez and now, thanks to his ability to work and feeling for the club, he survives and is one of the owner’s trusted people Christian Bragarnik, in the offices of the Martínez Valero.

Mantecón was a pivot of work and football who touched the sky with Elche, with which he rose to First Division (2012-13). He hung up his boots at Cádiz, but soon ‘his’ club recruited him and he returned to Martínez Valero. Although his heart is franjiverde, he will never forget his time at Madrid. And it is that Mantecón He spent eight years at La Fábrica. In fact, he boasts of being a white player in the stage of the “old Sports City”, as he proudly recalls. He came to play until Madrid C and is from the fifth of Peacock. It is regretted that the ‘Zidanes y Pavones’ It arrived a little after his departure from Madrid because that wave could have benefited him. Mantecón stayed at the gates of the subsidiary and had classic coaches from La Fábrica, such as Paco Jimenez, Rafa López, Tolin The Palmero. The man from Madrid had until Paco Buyo of technician.

But if you have to extol a figure within the white quarry, that is Vicente del Bosque. The man from Salamanca, then coordinator of grassroots football, He signed him from Alcorcón when he was a child and followed his steps very closely during the eight years that Mantecón was white. “That thing about Madrid educating you on a professional and personal level is true”, affirms the Madrilenian, who thanks Madrid for the formation because that helped him to live from football and go through the Badajoz, Alicante, Hercules, Elche, Ponferradina, Castellón, Elche Y Cádiz.

In his new job, Mantecón looks fondly at Madrid. He is full of praise for the project Ancelotti, but there is a player who would sign with his eyes closed. As technical secretary, I would throw the rest for Vinicius. “If I could, I would sign Vini for Elche. I would sign him for the present and the performance he is giving, but also for the value he will have in a few years. His projection is incredible,” he assures AS Mantecón while shaping Elche during this winter market.