Jorge Resurrección Merodio (; born 8 January 1992), known as Koke (), is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Atlético Madrid, which he captains, and the Spain national team.
He has spent the entirety of his career with Atlético Madrid since making his debut with the first team in 2009, playing a club record of over 550 competitive matches and winning the 2013–14 and 2020–21 La Liga, two Europa League titles and two UEFA Super Cup trophies, while he was also a Champions League runner-up in 2014 and 2016.
Koke won the 2013 European Championship with the Spain under-21 team. He also made his debut for the full side that year, and represented the country at three World Cups and two European Championships.
Club career
Koke was born in Madrid. Having arrived at Atlético Madrid's youth system at the age of eight, he made his debut for the first team on 19 September 2009, playing in the second half of a 5–2 away loss against FC Barcelona after coming on as a substitute for Paulo Assunção. He made three further appearances during the season.
Koke scored his first league goal for Atlético against Sevilla FC on 26 February 2011, his 47th-minute header from a Diego Forlán cross made it 1–1 in an eventual 2–2 home draw. He finished his first full season as a professional with 17 games and two goals (the other coming in a 2–2 draw at RCD Espanyol), as the Colchoneros finished seventh and qualified for the UEFA Europa League.
Koke was again an important member of Atlético's midfield in 2011–12, under both Gregorio Manzano and his successor Diego Simeone. He scored his first league goal of the campaign on 29 April 2012, opening the score in the 62nd minute of an eventual 2–2 away draw against Real Betis. He appeared in 13 matches during the club's successful Europa League run, including a 90th-minute substitute appearance in the 3–0 defeat of Athletic Bilbao in the final.
Aged only 20/21, Koke started in 38 of his 48 official appearances during 2012–13 and scored three goals – this included 112 minutes of play in the final of the Copa del Rey, won against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. He also began to excel at passing, either through set pieces or open play.
On 1 September 2013, Koke scored his first goal of the new season, contributing to a 2–1 away win over Real Sociedad. His performances in October earned him the accolade of La Liga Player of the Month, while Simeone won the equivalent managerial award; on 3 March 2014, he scored to help his team to a 2–2 home draw in the Derbi madrileño against Real Madrid.
On 9 April 2014, Koke scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League, netting the only goal of a quarter-final against Barcelona to send Atlético to the semi-finals for the first time since 1974. He finished the domestic league season as the player with the second most assists with 14, as Atlético won the league title for the first time in 18 years after drawing 1–1 with Barcelona at Camp Nou in the final matchday; he was a nominee at La Liga Awards at attacking midfielder, losing out to Andrés Iniesta.
On 25 June 2014, Koke signed a new five-year deal with Atlético. He was named player of the match in their Champions League group match at Malmö FF on 4 November, scoring the first goal of a 2–0 win. In a penalty shootout against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the round of 16, on 18 March of the following year, he had his attempt saved by Bernd Leno, but his team nonetheless advanced.
Koke started 2015–16 slowly, scoring one goal and registering not a single assist by the middle of November. By the middle of April 2016, after a spell of six decisive passes in as many games, he equalled his season's assist record of 12; later that month he surpassed that tally, also moving to first place in the assists chart ahead of Barcelona's Luis Suárez, and was voted Player of the Month for the second time.
On 23 October 2016, Koke was sent off for the first time in his career, for two yellow cards in a 0–1 loss at Sevilla. The following 24 May, he signed a new five-year contract until 2024. Only two months after turning 26, he entered the top 10 appearance makers in Atlético history with his 361st against Deportivo de La Coruña on 1 April 2018.
Koke played his 400th official match for the club on 20 January 2019 – becoming the youngest player to do so in the process, at the age of 27 – scoring once and providing one assist in a 3–0 away defeat of SD Huesca. After Diego Godín's departure in the summer, he became team captain.