Real Madrid Born in
Coslada,
Community of Madrid, Parejo was a product of
Real Madrid's youth academy, joining at the age of 14. He was called on several occasions by first-team coach
Bernd Schuster to train with the seniors and, during the
2006–07 season, played four games for
Real Madrid Castilla in
Segunda División. On 4 August 2008, Parejo signed a one-year
loan deal with
Championship club
Queens Park Rangers, and made his debut five days later,
coming off the bench in a 2–1 win against
Barnsley at
Loftus Road, going on to total 18 official appearances. On 17 December, Real Madrid officially recalled the player from his loan effective 1 January 2009, after first-team midfielders
Rubén de la Red and
Mahamadou Diarra were both out for
the campaign with various physical problems. Parejo was given the squad number 17, which had previously been assigned to
Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was also out for several months due to a serious injury. He appeared little during the season, his first match being the 4–0
La Liga away victory over
Sporting de Gijón on 15 February as he replaced
Sergio Ramos for the final ten minutes.
Getafe In late July 2009, as
Esteban Granero was re-bought from
Getafe CF, Parejo went in the opposite direction with Real, as in Granero's case, having a similar option. On 25 March 2010, he scored against his former club after stealing the ball from
goalkeeper Iker Casillas, but the hosts lost 4–2. Having to compete for a starting berth in central midfield with coach
Míchel's son,
Adrián – a former teammate in Real Madrid B – he nevertheless contributed solidly during
the campaign as they qualified for the second time in their history for the
UEFA Europa League. Parejo appeared more in
2010–11 (36 matches), but the
Madrid outskirts side only narrowly avoided relegation.
Valencia in 2015 On 14 June 2011,
Valencia CF signed Parejo for a reported €6 million, with out-of-favour goalkeeper
Miguel Ángel Moyá going to Getafe on a year-long loan as part of the deal. He made his league debut on 15 August, playing 80 minutes in a 1–1 away draw to
RCD Mallorca. Parejo was quickly deemed surplus to requirements at his new club, his situation not improving even after the serious injury suffered by
Sergio Canales, who played in his same position. He bounced back, however, for
2012–13, scoring twice in 36 official games in an eventual fifth-place finish. In the following years, Parejo was an undisputed starter for several managers. In the
2014–15 season, his first as
captain, he scored a career-best 12 goals, being one of the best scorers in the competition from the midfielder position. In the process, he also became the first Valencia midfielder to score ten or more goals since
Vicente in
2003–04. Parejo and
Paco Alcácer each scored twice in a 5–1 win away to third-place
RC Celta de Vigo on 7 November 2015; his first came just before
half-time, through a
free kick to put the visitors ahead 2–1. However, in January, after a poor run of form, the former was stripped of his
captaincy in favour of the latter by manager
Gary Neville. He was reinstated in that position by
Marcelino García Toral ahead of the
2017–18 campaign. Parejo
lifted the
Copa del Rey on 25 May 2019, after a 2–1 defeat of
FC Barcelona in
the final.
Villarreal On 12 August 2020, Parejo joined
Villarreal CF on a
free transfer and a four-year contract. He moved to the local rivals alongside his teammate
Francis Coquelin, a move which caused fury from Valencia's fans towards their chairman
Peter Lim. Parejo
won the Europa League in his
first season at the
Estadio de la Cerámica. In
the final, he took the free kick that
Gerard Moreno finished for Villarreal's goal in a 1–1 draw against
Manchester United, and also scored in the 11–10
penalty shootout victory. ==International career==