Zaragoza Zapater was born in
Ejea de los Caballeros,
Province of Zaragoza. He joined his hometown side
Real Zaragoza's academy at the age of 12. The first-team manager, former Spanish international
Víctor Muñoz, was impressed enough, allowing Zapater to join them for preseason training. He was given his official debut on Zaragoza's first game of
2004–05, against
Valencia CF in the
Supercopa de España: although the
Aragonese ended up losing 1–0 he put up a solid performance overall, confirmed in the
3–1 second leg away win. In the
following campaign, he helped the club to
finish as runners-up in the
Copa del Rey (losing
the final to
RCD Espanyol) In the next two seasons, after renewing his contract until June 2010, Zapater remained an undisputed starter, only missing four games while experiencing
qualification for the
UEFA Cup in
2006–07, and
relegation the following year. He held an emotional press conference before parting ways with his boyhood team, whilst fans paid tribute to the player dedicating a song to him. On 17 September 2009, Zapater had the distinction of scoring the first ever goal in the
Europa League proper, with a fourth-minute strike against
SK Slavia Prague. He started throughout most of his
debut season in
Serie A – his maiden appearance in the competition being marked with a goal and an
assist in a 3–2 home win over
AS Roma– as Genoa finished in mid-table. Before the end of the campaign and during the subsequent off-season he was linked with a move to several clubs, but nothing ever materialised. Zapater was sold to
Sporting CP on 30 July 2010, as
Miguel Veloso moved in the opposite direction. Used intermittently in his
only season he did appear in 34 official games for the
Lions, scoring four times. On 3 August 2011, Zapater moved to
FC Lokomotiv Moscow on a
free transfer, signing a five-year contract. He made his first
Russian Premier League appearance on 11 September, setting up
Manuel da Costa's goal in a 4–2 win over
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. In an interview with
Zaragoza-based newspaper
El Periódico de Aragón in late 2012, he spoke of his development in the new reality and his efforts to learn the
Russian language.
Return to Zaragoza On 19 June 2016, Zapater returned to Zaragoza after agreeing to a two-year deal. New manager
Natxo González deployed him further up the field, and he responded by scoring five goals in the
2017–18 season, once in the
promotion playoffs against
CD Numancia; he would only find the net again four years later. Zapater left the
La Romareda in May 2023 after seven years in the
Segunda División, aged 38. At the time of his departure, he was the third player with the most appearances for the club at 422.
Atlético Ottawa On 28 June 2023,
Canadian Premier League club
Atlético Ottawa signed Zapater for the remainder of
the campaign, with an option to extend in 2024. He remained at the
TD Place Stadium until the end of the
2025 season as
co-captain, with the 40-year-old announcing shortly before its closure that he would be retiring. Zapater featured 11 minutes of the
Premier League final on 9 November 2025, a 2–1
extra-time victory against
Cavalry FC. ==International career==