Xiker

Early career

A product of Athletic Bilbao's famed academy, Xiker joined the club at the age of ten and spent nine seasons developing his game at the Lezama training ground. During his time with Athletic, he represented the club at the UEFA Youth League and was considered to be one of Spain's brightest defensive prospects. His progression through the ranks was interrupted, however, when he suffered a serious injury while on international duty with the Spanish youth team.

Toledo

Following his injury, Xiker saw his game time with Athletic feeder-club CD Basconia reduced, and on 5 August 2016 Segunda División B side Toledo announced that the club had signed him on a two-year deal after Athletic agreed to the termination of his contract. Part of the agreement was that Athletic retained the option of re-purchase on Xiker at the end of each season. He made his debut for the club on 3 September, starting in a 2–0 loss to Arenas Club. On 23 October, Xiker suffered a muscular injury in Toledo's 1–0 win over Real Unión and was ruled out for the remainder of the year, with doctors only giving him the clear to return to training on 3 January 2017. He made his long-awaited return to the first team on the final day of the regular season on 14 May, starting in a 3–0 loss to Bilbao Athletic. The result saw Toledo end the campaign in second position, four points behind champions Albacete, and thereby qualified for the play-offs to the Segunda División. The club were…

Spain national youth teams

Xiker is a former Spanish youth international and represented the nation at all levels from the U16s to the U19s between 2013 and 2015. In 2015, he was part of the Spain U18 squad which won the Atlantic Cup after beating Portugal, Costa Rica and the Canary Islands. Later that year, he was included in Spain's preliminary squad for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Greece. He was one of six players cut from the final squad, however, as Spain went on to claim their seventh title in the competition.

As of match played 28 April 2024

1 Includes Copa del Rey matches. 2 Includes Copa Federación and Copa Catalunya matches.