He began his career at Vitesse and Tenerife before moving to Deportivo de La Coruña in 1999 and helping the side to their first La Liga title in his first season there. He also won the Copa del Rey in 2002 and the following season was given the European Golden Boot for a 29-goal haul. He remains the club's all-time leading goalscorer. He then moved to Bayern Munich for a then club record €18.75 million, where he picked up the nickname "Das Phantom" (the phantom), for his ability to score out of nowhere, as well as "Tor Maschine" (goal machine), for his consistent ability to find the back of the net. After winning two consecutive Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal doubles at Bayern, he returned to the Netherlands with Feyenoord in 2007.