Alberto Bueno is a product of the famed Real Madrid youth system, which in the past has produced great players such as Raul, Guti and Iker Casillas who have all represented Madrid's first-team and the Spanish national side.
During the 2005/06 season he scored an incredible 37 goals in 37 games for Madrid's youth side, which earned him a professional contract with the Spanish giants.
His professional contract saw him step up to Real Madrid Castilla, which is Madrid's reserve side, who play in the Spanish second division.
In 46 games in total, he notched 14 goals and impressed Real Madrid head coach Bernd Schuster, who in late 2008 called Bueno up to the first-team squad.
In Action: Alberto playing for Real Valladolid
His performances were recognised with call-ups to the Spain U17s, U19s, U20s and U21s. He played a combined total of 24 games for the four sides, scoring 14 goals.
He was the star of the show in Spain's 2006 under 19 European Championship success. He scored twice in the final against Scotland and picked up the golden boot award.
He scored on his debut for Madrid in the Spanish Cup against third division Unión, but embarrassingly Madrid slipped out of the competition on the away goals rule.
Bueno's strike was a fabulous one, lashing the ball into the top corner from long range.
Less than a fortnight later, Bueno made his La Liga debut as a substitute in place of Madrid legend Raul in the second half of a 1-0 win over Recreativo de Huelva.
Bueno made two further appearances for Madrid's first-team that season, with rivals Barcelona claiming the La Liga title.
In Talks: Alberto with Derby County CEO Tom Glick after Saturday's 2-2 draw with QPR
Madrid's failure to claim the title meant wholesale changes, and with Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso all arriving his path towards the first-team was blocked.
And that was only the new players, with the likes of Raul, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Klaas-jan Huntelaar also ahead of him in the pecking order.
Prior to the 2009/10 La Liga season, Bueno joined Real Valladolid on a five-year contract for around 3 million euros. Previously, he had been linked with a move to Liverpool as part of Alonso's move from Anfield to Madrid.
After being involved in a relegation battle for the majority of the season, Valladolid were relegated on the final of the day after defeat to Barcelona. The 0-4 result saw the Catalan club lift the La Liga title, and Valladolid condemned to the Segunda Division.
Bueno, deployed mainly out of position on the left-hand side of midfield, scored once in 20 appearances.
Meet & Greet: Signing autographs for DCFC fans after Saturday's game
He has hit the back of the net in England before, having scored for Valladolid in a 2-2 pre-season friendly draw at Stoke City last August.
He met up with his Derby team-mates for the first time today at the Rams' training camp in Marbella, and he will return to the UK with the rest of the squad later this week to begin his new life in England.
