Kepa was born in
Marbella,
Province of Málaga; his forename was of
Basque origin, as his mother hailed from
Biscay. Brought up through the ranks of
Sevilla FC, he played two
La Liga matches with the first team in
2004–05, and established himself as an important attacking player with the
Andalusian club in the following two seasons, but almost exclusively as a
substitute. In
2006–07, even after having scored a
hat-trick against
Levante UD in the league opener, and another three goals in the
victorious run in the
UEFA Cup, Kepa fell out of favour, and on 22 January 2007 he went on loan to
West Ham United in the
Premier League until the end of
the campaign, with the option of a permanent transfer available. On his debut for the Hammers, eight days later, he netted in the 77th minute after only being on for 70 seconds with his first touch of the game against
Liverpool. Kepa signed a four-year deal with fellow top-flight club
Getafe CF in July 2007, with Sevilla retaining the option of repurchasing the next season or the one after that. He appeared sparingly for the
UEFA Cup quarter-finalists in his
first year, scoring in a 2–0 home win over
Real Murcia CF after coming from the bench on 21 October but also being
sent off for kicking an opponent; from that moment onwards he was rarely featured, not even in the
Copa del Rey (nine league matches over two full seasons). On 5 August 2010, Kepa was sold to
Recreativo de Huelva of the
Segunda División as
Adrián Colunga moved in the opposite direction. He made only 19 appearances out of a possible 42 in his
first year, being released from contract in April 2012 after no competitive minutes during
the campaign whatsoever. In 2014, after
one season in the second tier with
CD Guadalajara, where he totalled 19 games and also suffered relegation, and one year of inactivity, the 30-year-old Kepa retired from football, being appointed assistant coach at amateurs
UD San Pedro in his native region shortly after. ==International career==