Zaragoza Cani was born in
Zaragoza. A youth graduate of his hometown's
Real Zaragoza, he was shining in the
B team who were playing in the
Segunda División B after a loan stint with lowly
Utebo FC of
Tercera División and, as the main squad's fate was already decided in the
2001–02 season (
relegation, ranking last) he received his first-team debut, playing 30 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against
FC Barcelona. After helping the
Aragonese club
regain its top-flight status by appearing in 24 games and scoring five goals, his first coming on 23 March 2003 in a 2–0 win at
Real Oviedo,
Villarreal During
2005–06, Cani was one of
La Liga's best
passers, and at the season's end he signed with
Villarreal CF for
€11 million. He played 32 matches for the
2007–08 runners-up, but did not score. midfielder
Mesut Özil for the ball in January 2011. In the
2008–09 campaign, after a shaky start, which included not being called to some matches by coach
Manuel Pellegrini in spite of being healthy, Cani finished strongly, scoring five times in the last nine appearances, including the final three: Real Madrid (3–2),
Valencia CF (3–1) and
RCD Mallorca (3–2), as Villarreal finished fifth; after the
Chilean manager's departure to Real Madrid, he again appeared in the starting XI regularly. Cani continued to be an undisputed starter in
2010–11 –
Robert Pires had also left the club. On 9 January 2011, he netted the opener at Real Madrid, with a subtle finish inside the box; already on the bench, he threw a water bottle at opposing manager
José Mourinho after the coach celebrated
Cristiano Ronaldo's
hat-trick (which put the score at 3–2 for the hosts, eventually 4–2) in front of his team's bench, being immediately sent off. The one-match suspension was later lifted, and he found the net in the next game, a 3–3 home draw against
Sevilla FC in the
quarter-finals of the domestic cup, and in the following, scoring from more than 50 metres in a 4–2 home defeat of
CA Osasuna, with the
Valencians eventually finishing the league in fourth place; he added three goals in a
semi-final run in the
UEFA Europa League, including one in each leg of the last-four clash against
FC Porto in an eventual 7–4 aggregate loss. On 7 January 2015, Cani joined
Atlético Madrid on loan for the remainder of
the season, after successfully passing a medical. He made his first appearance three weeks later, coming on as a
substitute for
Arda Turan for the last 27 minutes of a 3–2 home loss to Barcelona in the
Spanish Cup quarter-finals (4–2 loss on aggregate).
Later career On 23 July 2015, Cani terminated his contract with Villarreal and signed a one-year deal with
Deportivo de La Coruña the following day. He left at the end of
the campaign, contributing 888 minutes to a 15th-place finish. Cani returned to his first club Zaragoza on 6 July 2016, after agreeing to a two-year deal. Roughly one year later, despite featuring regularly during the
second division season, the 36-year-old announced his retirement. ==International career==