David Karanka

Karanka was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava. The younger brother of Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid and Colorado Rapids player Aitor Karanka, he was brought up at the Basque giants, and first appeared with the first team on 14 May 2000, playing 15 minutes in a 0–0 La Liga away draw against RCD Espanyol. After a loan stint to CF Extremadura in 2000–01, where he scored 13 Segunda División goals, Karanka returned to Athletic, with virtually no impact (six games, although he scored once in a 3–2 thriller win at RC Celta de Vigo, as Bilbao trailed 2–0 with eight minutes remaining). He subsequently returned to the second tier, helping Real Murcia CF achieve promotion in 2002–03 by netting 13 goals and adding seven in next season's top flight – already as a permanent player after having been bought outright for €180,000– as the club returned to where it came from. Two years later, Karanka transferred to fellow second-division side Sporting de Gijón where his form deteriorated, scoring only twice in 33 matches over two complete seasons. In January 2008 he joined Real Unión in Irun, moving in August to another Segunda División B team, UE Sant Andreu. Karanka split the 2009–10 campaign between CD Guijuelo and Orihuela CF also in division three, totalling just three goals. Aged 32, he dropped down to the Tercera División and signed for CD Cieza. Karanka went on to work as an assistant manager, starting out at Murcia then joining Nottingham Forest in July 2018. At the second of those clubs…

Basconia

Tercera División: 1997–98 Murcia

Segunda División: 2002–03