Early career Morientes was born in
Cilleros,
Cáceres,
Extremadura, and moved to
Sonseca in the
Province of Toledo at the age of four. He began his professional career at
Albacete Balompié, making his
La Liga debut on 7 November 1993 as a 75th-minute
substitute for
Alejandro in a 2–3 loss against
CD Tenerife at the
Estadio Carlos Belmonte, and he made one more appearance
that season, also
from the bench. On 23 October 1994, soon after coming on as a first-half replacement for
Alberto Monteagudo, Morientes scored his first professional goal, opening a 2–0 home win over
Racing de Santander. He got his first start a week later in a 5–1 loss at
RCD Español, and finished
the campaign with a total of five goals in 20 league games; additionally, he found the net in each leg of a 3–2 aggregate win over holders
Real Zaragoza in the
last 16 of the
Copa del Rey. Morientes signed with Zaragoza in 1995, where he spent another two seasons, often being partnered up front by
Dani, a
Real Madrid youth graduate. He made his debut on 9 September away to
Real Betis, scoring the team's goal after 48 minutes but being
sent off seven minutes later for striking
Jaime. On 10 January of the following year, he scored his first professional
hat-trick in a 3–2 win at
Athletic Bilbao for
the domestic cup; his first such feat in the league followed on 3 February in a 4–1 victory over
Valencia CF at
La Romareda, and eight days later he scored the first goal at
SD Compostela and also received his marching orders with his team winning 2–1 (eventual 3–2 defeat).
Real Madrid Morientes's performances for Zaragoza caught the eye of Spanish giants Real Madrid, which bought the player in the summer of 1997 for approximately
€6.6 million. Initially backing up established
Predrag Mijatović and
Davor Šuker, he finished as starter and managed 12 goals in
his first year in 33 matches, squad-best (with the two players who fought with him for a starting berth netting ten apiece, as youth system prodigy
Raúl); the team finished fourth in the league, but won
the season's
UEFA Champions League. Morientes performed very well in the
1998–99 campaign, scoring 19 goals in the league and 25 in 38 appearances overall. In
the next season, he won the first of two league titles with the club and netted ten goals overall, including four in eight appearances in the Champions League in a semi-final exit to eventual winners
FC Bayern Munich; he missed the last weeks due to injury. In
2001–02, Real failed to win the league after losing out to Valencia. Morientes continued his scoring form, however, scoring 18 league goals in only 25 starts, with six substitute appearances. He also netted five in a 7–0 demolition of
UD Las Palmas, missing out on a double
hat-trick after missing from the
penalty spot late in the match. He finished second in the top scorers list, tied with
Patrick Kluivert and behind
Deportivo de La Coruña's
Diego Tristán, as the
Merengues were successful in
winning the Champions League after beating
Bayer 04 Leverkusen – he played in
the final and received a third winners medal. In the summer of 2002, Real Madrid signed Brazilian superstar
Ronaldo from
Inter Milan. This fueled rumours that Morientes would soon be leaving, with
FC Barcelona and
Tottenham Hotspur reportedly interested – the former were reportedly on the verge of signing the player for around €22 million, but the move fell through due to Barça's reluctance to match his wage demands. Eventually, he decided to stay, but as predicted he did not feature as much after the arrival of Ronaldo, who was preferred in the starting lineup along with Raúl. He eventually fell down the pecking order of strikers to
Guti and
Javier Portillo and, during a February 2003 home win against
Borussia Dortmund – 2–1 in the
Champions League second group stage – was involved in a highly publicised spat with manager
Vicente del Bosque, with the player allegedly insulting the coach after being called to enter the pitch as a third replacement in the dying minutes; in the winter
transfer window, despite continuous rumours of moves to Tottenham, Zaragoza,
AS Roma and
AC Milan, he remained at the club for remainder of the season as the side went on to win the league, with the player making a total of 19 appearances (with three starts) and scoring five goals.
Monaco loan and return At the start of the
2003–04 season, it was evident Morientes was not part of Real's plans. After extensive but ultimately unsuccessful negotiations regarding a loan deal with Germany's
FC Schalke 04, he was loaned to
Ligue 1 side
AS Monaco FC, where he performed very well, netting ten times from 28 appearances in the league. It was in the
Champions League, however, that he really made an impact, finishing as top scorer at nine goals: Monaco met Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, where he scored a vital away goal in the first leg (4–2 away loss); in the second match, he again found the net as his team won 3–1, taking the aggregate score to 5–5 (
away goals rule victory). He also scored in both games of the last-four win against
Chelsea, but could not prevent a 3–0 defeat in
the final to
FC Porto, played at the
Arena AufSchalke in
Gelsenkirchen. After returning to Real Madrid at the start of the
2004–05 campaign, Morientes's hopes of forcing his way into the squad were further dampened with the arrival of
Michael Owen from
Liverpool. He featured in 13 scoreless league matches (all as a substitute), and was transferred to Liverpool in January 2005 for a fee of €9.3 million. During his time at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium he played 272 games in all competitions, scoring 100 goals.
Liverpool Morientes made his debut for Liverpool on 15 January 2005 against
Manchester United, starting in a 0–1 home loss to
the rivals –
BBC Sport described his performance as "quiet". He scored his first goal for the club on 1 February, equalising with a 20-yard strike in a 2–1 win at
Charlton Athletic, and he followed it four days later with his first goal at
Anfield to open a 3–1 win over
Fulham after nine minutes. He was
cup-tied for the
Champions League campaign, and did not feature in the victory against Milan in the
final of the competition. His form in the league was inconsistent, but on 10 December he netted a five-minute brace in a 2–0 home defeat of
Middlesbrough, their seventh in a row. On 21 March 2006, he scored in a 7–0 rout of
Birmingham City in
the quarter-finals of the
FA Cup, finishing
Steven Gerrard's
cross three minutes after entering in place of
Peter Crouch. Liverpool went on to win the tournament, and the player replaced
Harry Kewell early in the second half of
the final against
West Ham United. Morientes totalled 12 goals in 61 appearances, also winning the
2005 UEFA Super Cup and playing on the losing side in the
2005 Football League Cup final and the
2005 FIFA Club World Championship final. He ultimately failed to live up to his reputation.
Valencia in the
2008 Supercopa de España Morientes joined Valencia in late May 2006 for a fee reported to be around
£3 million. Here, he started to regain his form, scoring on his league debut – a 2–1 home win against Betis– and also
netting a hat-trick in his first
Champions League appearance against
Olympiacos FC. He linked up well with
David Villa and scored 12 goals in 24 games, and was also team-top scorer in the Champions League with seven; his good form throughout
the season also earned him a recall to the national side. For
2007–08, Morientes and Villa were joined in the strike force by
Nikola Žigić and
Javier Arizmendi. The campaign, however, was disappointing, as the
Che were
knocked out of the Champions League after finishing fourth in the group, and manager
Quique Sánchez Flores was dismissed following a poor run of form. He picked up an injury in December 2007 that ruled him out for almost three months, and he made his return to the side against
Sevilla FC on 15 March 2008; he also came off the bench to score the third and final goal in Valencia's 3–1 victory over
Getafe CF in
the final of the
Copa del Rey the following month. Morientes missed out on a further few league games after he was hospitalised in April with abdominal pains and fever. He was released from hospital in time for the final two matches of the season, but played no part in either. Having begun the
following campaign as an unused substitute in Valencia's first league game, and only coming on from the bench in the second, Morientes was handed his first start in a
UEFA Cup match against
C.S. Marítimo, and he scored the only goal in Portugal through a solo effort at the 12-minute mark. His increasing age and the form of Villa and
Juan Mata, however, led to only a handful of appearances in the league; as they were ousted in the
round of 32, he still finished as their top scorer in European competition at three goals in seven matches.
Marseille On 27 July 2009, Morientes agreed to a deal at France's
Olympique de Marseille on a
free transfer for one year, reuniting with former Monaco boss
Didier Deschamps. During his
only season he was the fourth of five strikers in the squad, his sole
Ligue 1 goal coming on 26 September in what his first start, opening a 3–2 loss at
Valenciennes FC. Morientes was released on 1 July 2010, by mutual consent. On 31 August, the 34-year-old announced his retirement from football.
Coaching and brief return as player Morientes started his career as manager with
Huracán Valencia CF, taking charge of its youth academy. In 2012 he returned to Real Madrid, being appointed at the
Juvenil B team in the
youth academy. In January 2015, at 38, Morientes returned to playing, signing with
DAV Santa Ana in the
Madrid regional championships. In June, he became manager of
CF Fuenlabrada, but was sacked the following 17 February with the team 11th in
Segunda División B. ==International career==