He spent the vast majority of his career with Real Madrid, appearing in 561 competitive matches and scoring 172 goals while winning 15 titles.

Born in Ceuta, Pirri signed for Real Madrid in 1964 as a 19-year-old, from Segunda División club Granada who received 200 million pesetas.

[3] During his tenure at Real, Pirri won ten national championships, netting in double digits in five of those seasons including a career-best 13 goals in 1975–76.

He added nine appearances in the 1965–66 European Cup (for a total of 57 with 18 goals in the competition), including the final against Partizan (2–1 win in Brussels);[4] he was part of a generation of players of the team dubbed Yé-Yé.

[7] He then completed his studies to qualify as a physician, and joined Real Madrid's medical staff;[8] in late December 1999, he was named their general manager after Jorge Valdano (who later replaced him) rejected the offer.