Ángel Sánchez, who knocked Deportivo and Valladolid out of the Copa del Rey, joins Kyrgyz club

Karakol-based Bars, the reigning champions of Kyrgyzstan, have announced the signing of 28-year-old Spanish forward Ángel Sánchez.

Анхель Санчес
Ángel Sánchez. Photo: Ángel Sánchez’s social media

Sánchez is a Mallorca academy graduate. He made one senior appearance for the club in the Segunda División in January 2017 before spending most of his career in Spain’s third and fourth tiers.

The forward has also represented Espanyol B, Badalona, Salamanca, Tudelano, Alcoyano, Eldense, Logroñés and San Fernando, among other clubs.

The defining moments of Sánchez’s career came in the 2024/25 Copa del Rey. In December 2024, he scored an 87th-minute winner as Ourense defeated Deportivo La Coruña 1–0.

In the following round, the third-tier side faced Real Valladolid, who were playing in La Liga at the time. Sánchez struck in the 52nd minute to seal a stunning 3–2 victory.

Ourense’s cup run ended in the round of 16 with a 2–0 defeat to Valencia.

Sánchez made 29 league appearances and scored three goals for Ourense in the 2024/25 season. He then joined Orihuela, recording four goals in 28 fourth-tier matches.

The Spaniard left Orihuela at the beginning of July and has joined Bars as a free agent. Transfermarkt currently values him at €150,000.

Bars have been actively strengthening their squad with foreign players. The Kyrgyz champions previously brought back Bosnian midfielder Harun Karić and signed his compatriot Nedim Mekić, Ukrainian forward Maksym Pryadun, Croatian defender Mario Zebić, German full-back Haimenn Ba-Traoré and Serbian goalkeeper Filip Erić.

Following Sánchez’s arrival, Bars now have 13 foreign players in their squad. However, Belarusian defender Aleksey Abramov is exempt from the foreign-player quota because Belarus is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union.

That leaves 12 players counting towards the limit. Zhogorku League regulations allow clubs to register a maximum of ten foreign players, meaning Bars will have to release at least two of them or leave them out of the official squad.

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