At club level, he is deployed in the holding role, often accompanied by another minded central midfielder such as Manuel Fernandes and Oğuzhan Özyakup.
Manuel Noriega | Joan Manuel Serrat | Manuel I of Portugal | Manuel de Falla | Juan Manuel Santos | Manuel L. Quezon | Manuel Belgrano | Manuel Alejandro | Tony Fernandes | Manuel Castells | Manuel Zelaya | Manuel Álvarez Bravo | Juan Manuel de Rosas | Víctor Manuel | Richard Manuel | Manuel Requena | Manuel Mujica Láinez | Manuel II of Portugal | Manuel Roxas | Manuel Pineda Munoz | Manuel Oribe | Manuel Mijares | Manuel L. Quezon University | Juan Manuel Márquez | Juan Manuel Fangio | George Fernandes | Manuel Valera | Manuel Penella | Manuel I Komnenos | Manuel Barrueco |
After a string of midfield injuries to the main squad (Rubén Baraja, Edu and Manuel Fernandes) he was called up by coach Unai Emery, making his La Liga debut against FC Barcelona, playing 20 minutes in a 0–4 away loss on 6 December 2008 (previous to that, he had already appeared in a domestic cup game against Club Portugalete, where he also scored).