From the dirt pitches to glory: the story of the Tenerife striker who arrived late and left early
He was not born a star, and the doors of fame did not open for him as a teenager. The story of Jesús de Miguel Alameda is not one of talent crafted by the great academies. It is an epic of struggle that lasted a full decade, from dirt pitches in the lower leagues to the lights of professional football.
At twenty-seven, he reached the Spanish second division. Just when everyone thought his dream had finally begun, a tragic end snatched away a striker who had waited so long to turn professional.
Tenerife announced the death of their striker Jesús de Miguel today, Tuesday, closing the chapter on a player who had carved his path with extreme difficulty through almost every level of Spanish football.
Born in Madrid on 21 September 1996, De Miguel made his name with his strength inside the penalty area, his ability to play with his back to goal, his command of aerial balls and his knack for wearing down defenders. The dream of turning professional that had long haunted him came only after nearly 10 years of hard work away from the spotlight.
His journey began at the Leganés youth academy. He passed through the reserve team before moving to Lugo Fuenlabrada, and in 2017 his real breakthrough came with Internacional de Madrid, where he scored 9 goals in 33 matches and contributed directly to the team's promotion to the Segunda División B, according to "Sport".
Loan spells at Fuenlabrada and Unión Adarve followed in the 2018-2019 season, before he found himself at Navalcarnero. There he exploded in front of goal, scoring 12 goals in 29 matches in the 2019-2020 season to lead the Madrid side to promotion, then adding 4 more goals the following season in the Segunda División B.
The major turning point came in 2021, when he joined Unionistas de Salamanca. He scored 12 goals and provided 4 assists in his first Primera División season, a performance that caught the attention of Castellón, who signed him in January 2023 to begin the most important chapter of his career.
At Castellón, he became a regular from day one, scoring 6 goals in half a season, two of them in decisive promotion matches. Then came the season of his true explosion. In 2023-2024 he scored 16 goals in 35 matches and led the team to its long-awaited return to the second division after winning their group title.
That brilliance did not go unnoticed. The Spanish Football Federation crowned him the best player in Group Two.
His belated dream was finally realised on 17 August 2024, when he played his first match in the second division (LaLiga Hypermotion) for Castellón against Eibar at the Ipurua stadium, aged 27. A month later, he produced his best match in the competition, scoring a brace in a crushing 5-2 win over Almería.
Three seasons and 25 goals later, he ended his journey with Castellón to begin a new adventure with Tenerife, who had been relegated to the first division, signing a contract until June 2028. As was his habit, he did not let the team down, scoring 11 goals and forming a fearsome attacking duo with Enric Gallego that led the team to a near-perfect promotion and a swift return to the second division.
This season he played only 6 matches before the tragic incident against Andorra, ending the career of a champion who made himself from nothing.
