Paniagua was born in Navalmoral de la Mata in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, and began his career with local side Moralo.

[5] He scored fifteen goals that season, opening his account with a brace in a 5–0 home win over Real Murcia at Estadio Salto del Caballo in his second match.

[4] His good form earned him a move to newly promoted La Liga side Compostela ahead of the 1994–95 season,[2] and he made his top flight debut on 9 October.

He spent the first half of the following season with Levante, who ultimately met the same fate as Almería the year before, and then joined Cultural Leonesa in the tier below in the January transfer window.

In 2009, Paniagua returned to Cacereño, who he had represented twice during his playing career, as assistant manager during Ángel Luis Alcázar's brief spell as head coach.