José María Gutiérrez Hernández (born 31 October 1976), known as Guti, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
During his career, he played almost exclusively for Real Madrid – appearing in 542 official games and serving as vice-captain – helping the club to win 15 trophies, most notably three Champions League titles and five La Liga championships. He also competed in Turkey with Beşiktaş.
Guti played 13 times with Spain, making his debut in 1999. He worked as a manager after retiring.
Born in Torrejón de Ardoz, Community of Madrid, Guti began playing for Real Madrid's cantera in 1986, initially as a striker but being later moved to midfield, and remained there for the vast majority of his career. He made his first-team debut on 2 December 1995, in a 4–1 home win against Sevilla FC; he finished the season with one goal in nine appearances.
Guti added two trophies to his cabinet in 1997, La Liga and the Supercopa de España, playing 17 competitive games during the campaign. In 1997–98, he was part of the squad that lifted the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup, with the player also adding the UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
1999–2000 started badly for Guti: struggling with the responsibility of replacing Clarence Seedorf, he was sent off for kicking a fallen adversary in a home fixture against Real Sociedad; this negative trait was often recurrent, as he was given his marching orders eight times during his career in the league alone. In the season, in which he also captured the Champions League, he scored six goals in 28 games. He had his best individual input the following year, netting 14 times and playing mostly as a striker due to injuries to Fernando Morientes, and contributing greatly to the team's 27th league title and the subsequent domestic Supercup.
Guti totalled eight goals in 63 games from 2001 to 2003, contributing three in nine matches as the 2001–02 Champions League ended in victory. After the purchase of Ronaldo in summer 2002 he returned to midfield, and his scoring rate went down drastically.
Guti had his lowest season in terms of scoring in the 2004–05 season, as he failed to find the net for the first time in seven years with the first team. He only managed one official goal, in an international against San Marino on 9 February 2005.
In 2005–06, Guti played 43 games and netted six times (four in the league and two in European competition). On 15 January 2006, he provided a backheel assist for Zinedine Zidane in the 4–2 home victory over Sevilla.
With the election of Ramón Calderón as club president and his subsequent vow to bring AC Milan's Brazilian star Kaká to Real Madrid, Guti's future at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium appeared insecure. He was linked with a move away to cross-town rivals Atlético Madrid but, in the end, decided to remain with Real while Kaká stayed in Italy.
With Zidane retired, Guti found himself as the creative playmaker for the 2006–07 campaign, his preferred position. His excellent short and through pass abilities, especially a performance in a 3–2 home win over Sevilla on 6 May 2007 in which he played just 32 minutes from the bench, contributed to many of the goals which helped Real Madrid become league champions for the 30th time.
On 10 February 2008, Guti scored two goals and added four assists in a home game against Real Valladolid, for which he was named Player of the match– his team won 7–0 and ultimately lifted another champions trophy. On 14 September, he scored their 5,000th league goal in a 4–3 defeat of CD Numancia.
In 2009–10, already with Kaká on board, Guti still managed to appear significantly in the early stages, netting twice in the league. However, in late October, following the 4–0 shock defeat at AD Alcorcón in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey, he allegedly insulted coach Manuel Pellegrini at half-time, being then left out of the playing squads for a lengthy period; after being reinstated he suffered with some injuries but, due to the Brazilian also having physical problems, managed to appear regularly until the season's end.
On 25 July 2010, Guti left Real Madrid after nearly 25 years of service; he said: "I have an offer from Beşiktaş JK, but I haven't decided yet". The deal was concluded the following day, with the player signing a two-year contract. He started in his first competitive match for the Istanbul-based club, assisting in the game's only goal against Bucaspor.
Guti contributed to Beşiktaş' victory against Galatasaray SK with one goal and one assist on 28 November 2010; it was the team's first win at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium in six years. On 11 May 2011, he started as they won the Turkish Cup against İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor on penalties (4–3, 2–2 after extra time); it was the first domestic cup of his professional career.
Guti was deemed surplus to requirements at Beşiktaş for 2011–12, following the appointment of new manager Carlos Carvalhal. On 15 November 2011, the 35-year-old was released.
A Spain international since 5 May 1999 (Spain–Croatia, 3–1), Guti nevertheless failed to appear in any tournament's final stage for his country, winning a total of 13 caps in six years.
Previously, he won the UEFA European Under-18 Championship in 1995, followed by the under-21 one in 1998.