José Mari was born in
Seville,
Andalusia. After growing through the ranks of local
Sevilla (first appearing with the main squad aged just 18, in a 2–0 defeat at
Rayo Vallecano on 5 March 1997, and making 21
La Liga appearances with seven goals during
that season, as his team was finally relegated), he signed with
Atlético Madrid. At Atlético, José Mari totalled 18 league goals in his first two seasons. José Mari failed to settle in Italy after a
€19 million move to
AC Milan in January 2000– Atlético were relegated at the end of
the campaign His second spell there was less successful, with the high point being a
hat-trick in a 3–3 home draw against
Athletic Bilbao on 10 November 2002. José Mari agreed to a deal at
Villarreal in the summer of 2003, for an undisclosed fee. He went on to play a key role in
that year's
UEFA Intertoto Cup triumph, and the side's best-ever league finish (third in
2004–05, with four goals in 30 matches). In 2007, after falling out of favour at Villarreal with the arrival of
Giuseppe Rossi and the recovery of longtime injury absentee
Nihat Kahveci, José Mari returned to Seville, joining
Real Betis on a one-year deal. He scored his first goal for his new club more than a year after his arrival, on 24 September 2008, in a 3–2 away loss to
Barcelona; despite still having a contract running until June 2010, he was released in late December and, the following month, moved to
Segunda División with
Gimnàstic de Tarragona. In June 2010, after one and a half seasons of regular playing time, with six league goals in his
last year, José Mari became a
free agent and was released. The following month, the 31-year-old signed for
Xerez,
recently relegated to the second tier. He netted a career-best 17 times in his
first season – 33 games, all starts – helping his team to the eighth position. ==International career==