Diego López, the 'guaje' who pursues David Villa

The goatee makes him look older, but you still recognize that boy who couldn't stop smiling flanked by Quini and David Villa. Diego López Noguerol (Turón, 2002) had just turned 12 years old and they were giving him the Quini Trophy that rewards the top Asturian scorer in each category. He already had one from his first year as a junior and that afternoon he received two, because his 52 goals were not surpassed by any player, neither in his category nor in any other.. Nor could I imagine that, nine years later, it was going to be one of the bullets that Valencia, the team in which Villa shone, would use to seek victory against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu.

Diego saw that stadium up close and also very far away.. Son of the mining basin, his story is that of the boy who kicked the back wall of the 'El Descanso' restaurant, which was where Miguel and Sonia made a living feeding their neighbors.. Miguel, Diego's older brother with whom he has been with for almost a decade, had tried his luck in soccer. He arrived in Oviedo de Santi Cazorla, but had no luck and dedicated himself to blasting.

They took the little boy to Figaredo, but Xeitosa de Gijón, a futsal team home to footballers like Abelardo and Luis Enrique, offered him to train.. Too many kilometers for a family with a business, but they relied on friends and Diego signed. It didn't take long for Sporting to keep an eye on that player they define as “alive, expressive, who knew how to move” and take him to Mareo as a youngest.. The takeoff was quick because he had a gift for scoring. That child paid attention to the movements of Villa and Raúl and had dizzying appearances in the area.

From Real Madrid to Barça

62 goals in the last year in Gijón as a cadet and the Real Madrid recruiter was clear about it. In 2017, at the age of 15, he took him to Valdebebas. “That they take care of him and give him studies,” Sonia asked.. He spent a season in the youth C team, but the experience did not work despite scoring 18 goals.. The club stopped betting on him. And Barça appeared. Diego felt more supported in the Masía where he grew and scored goals.

Diego, with a trophy during his time as a Barça youth player. EM

Víctor Valdés made him debut in the National Youth League in the 19/20 season and in the Youth League and, in February, before the outbreak of the pandemic that would return him to Turón for a few months, he debuted in the Honor Division. On the second day he scored a double and on the third a hat-trick. By then his references had increased and he was closely observing Luis Suárez. With 42 goals, he closed a season as top scorer for Cadete B. However, once again he lacked a stroke of luck.

He had it when José Jiménez, Valencia's recruiting director, went to watch the youth derby. «The target was the Espanyol striker, but I saw him and, despite the fact that due to his height he is not a typical center forward, I knew that he could fit in at Valencia. He is vertical, intense, fast, a type of scorer who, like Piojo López or Villa, fits in at Mestalla,” he tells EL MUNDO.

Valencia did not have Barça's doubts, which incorporated him in the summer of '21 and Bordalás took him directly to the preseason, where he scored his first goal. “I knew that Canós, Brentford's wide player, is not very good defensively and I looked behind him,” he said in August 2021. Today they are dressing room partners and 'rivals' in the band, which is where Baraja made his debut.. Gattuso had done it before, a few minutes against Atlético de Madrid in the season opener at Mestalla. It was Monday and Miguel and Sonia had the restaurant closed, but they got together with friends to watch the game in the hope that Diego would show up.

It was not the Italian who supported him, but rather Pipo, who needed footballers with courage to save Valencia, but also a goal.. The Asturian gave him three, one against Real Madrid overshadowed by the controversy with Vinicius. Everything from the left wing. “I still see Diego as a forward,” insists Jiménez, “but it is true that he does a great job of retreating and, at that moment, it helped a lot.”

What has Baraja seen to bring him closer to the area? His surroundings reveal it: “He empties himself, he is difficult to mark due to his mobility and he enters from both wings because he handles both profiles”. He has scored another three goals this season and his breakthrough has already taken him to the Under-21 team, where he has also scored. 'Guajín' is the most rebellious image of the 'Quinta del Pipo'.