Aritz Elustondo Irribarria (born 28 March 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays mainly as a right-back but also as a central defender for La Liga club Real Sociedad.

Aritz Elustondo
Elustondo with Real Sociedad in 2018
Personal information
Full name Aritz Elustondo Irribarria[1]
Date of birth (1994-03-28) 28 March 1994 (age 30)[1]
Place of birth Beasain, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2][1]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Real Sociedad
Number 6
Youth career
Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2015 Real Sociedad B 59 (6)
2012–2013Beasain (loan) 29 (0)
2015– Real Sociedad 209 (11)
International career
2016 Spain U21 1 (0)
2018– Basque Country 3 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:36, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 24 March 2024

Club career

edit

Born in Beasain, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country,[3] Elustondo graduated from Real Sociedad's youth system. On 13 July 2012, he was loaned to Tercera División club SD Beasain,[4] and made his senior debut for the latter.

Elustondo returned to his alma mater in June 2013, and was assigned to the reserves in the Segunda División B. He signed a new contract on 31 January 2014, running until 2016.[5]

On 14 January 2015, Elustondo made his first-team debut, starting in a 2–2 home draw against Villarreal CF in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.[6] He first appeared in La Liga three days later, in the 0–1 home loss to Rayo Vallecano.[7]

Elustondo scored his first professional goal on 31 January 2015, but in a 4–1 defeat at Real Madrid.[8] On 3 January of the following year, after being regularly used by new manager Eusebio Sacristán, he agreed to an extension until 2020.[9]

Elustondo remained at Anoeta Stadium in the ensuing years, signing new deals in February 2018 (to June 2022)[10] and August 2020 (to June 2024).[11]

Career statistics

edit
As of match played 10 November 2024[12][13][14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Copa del Rey Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Real Sociedad B 2013–14 Segunda División B 31 4 0 0 31 4
2014–15 24 2 0 0 24 2
2015–16 4 0 0 0 4 0
Total 59 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 59 6
Real Sociedad 2014–15 La Liga 4 1 2 0 6 1
2015–16 31 1 0 0 31 1
2016–17 9 0 3 0 12 0
2017–18 19 3 0 0 5[a] 0 24 3
2018–19 27 1 2 0 29 1
2019–20 22 0 5[b] 0 27 0
2020–21 23 1 2 0 3[a] 0 0 0 28 1
2021–22 30 4 4 0 6[a] 0 40 4
2022–23 25 0 5 0 6[a] 1 36 1
2023–24 15 0 5 0 5[c] 0 25 0
2024–25 4 0 0 0 3[a] 0 7 0
Total 209 11 28 0 28 1 0 0 265 12
Career total 268 17 28 0 28 1 0 0 324 18
  1. ^ a b c d e Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Includes appearance in 2020 Copa del Rey final (played in 2021)
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

edit

Real Sociedad

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "Aritz Elustondo Irribarria". Real Sociedad. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  2. ^ Aritz Elustondo at AS.com (in Spanish)  
  3. ^ "Aritz Elustondo: "La Real es el club de mi vida"" [Aritz Elustondo: "Real is the club of my life"] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Zuhaitz Gurrutxagak eta Aritz Elustondok Beasainen jokatuko dute aurten" [Zuhaitz Gurrutxaga and Aritz Elustondo will play in Beasain this year] (in Basque). Beasain Hitza. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Aritz Elustondo renueva hasta 2016" [Aritz Elustondo renews until 2016] (in Spanish). Real Sociedad. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  6. ^ "El Villarreal no pierde el control" [Villarreal do not lose control]. Marca (in Spanish). 14 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  7. ^ S. Ramos, Antonio (17 January 2015). "Manucho castiga a Moyes" [Manucho punishes Moyes]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  8. ^ "Real Madrid smash David Moyes' Real Sociedad". ESPN FC. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  9. ^ Ramajo, Roberto (5 January 2016). "El canterano Aritz Elustondo renueva hasta 2020" [Youth graduate Aritz Elustondo renews until 2020]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  10. ^ "Aritz Elustondo renueva hasta 2022" [Aritz Elustondo renews until 2022]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 5 February 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  11. ^ "La Real renueva a Elustondo hasta 2024" [Real renew with Elustondo until 2024] (in Spanish). Be Soccer. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  12. ^ Aritz Elustondo at BDFutbol
  13. ^ Aritz Elustondo at Soccerway
  14. ^ Aritz Elustondo at FBref.com  
  15. ^ Reidy, Paul (3 April 2021). "Athletic Club 0–1 Real Sociedad: result, summary, goal". Diario AS. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  16. ^ Lowe, Sid (3 April 2021). "Real Sociedad beat Athletic to claim Copa del Rey and Basque glory". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
edit