Asier Benito Sasiain (born 11 February 1995) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF ...

Career

Benito was born in

Amurrio Amurrio is a town and municipality located in the northwest part of the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain. It has over 10,000 inhabitants. It is between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao, respectively to 41 km and 31 km ...

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its c ...

, Basque Country. He finished his formation with

CD Aurrerá de Vitoria Club Deportivo Aurrerá de Vitoria is a Spanish sports club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1935 it currently plays in Tercera División – Group 4, holding home matches at ''Est ...

, and made his senior debuts in the 2012–13 campaign, in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

. In 2013, Benito moved to

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

, being assigned to the reserves also in the fourth tier. On 17 June 2014, he renewed his link for a further year. On 13 March 2016, Benito made his professional debut, coming on as a late substitute for

Gaizka Toquero Gaizka Toquero Pinedo (born 9 August 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a right winger. He spent most of his career with Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 207 competitive matches during seven La Liga seasons an ...

in a 1–3 away loss against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

in the Segunda División championship. In 2017, he became involved in a contractual dispute with Alavés, subsequently transferring to another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

Bilbao Athletic Athletic Club "B", commonly known as Bilbao Athletic, is the reserve team of Athletic Club, a football club based in Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country in Spain. The team are playing in the Primera Federación – Group 2. F ...

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

. The move allowed him to easily continue his studies at the

University of Deusto The University of Deusto ( es, Universidad de Deusto; eu, Deustuko Unibertsitatea) is a Spanish private university owned by the Society of Jesus, with campuses in Bilbao and San Sebastián, and the Deusto Business School branch in Madrid. The U ...

while continuing as a player. On 2 July 2019, Benito signed a three-year deal with

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

, but was loaned to second division side

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at t ...

on 6 August. He scored his first professional goal on 5 October, netting his team's second in a 2–0 home win against

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División, holding home matches at ''Est ...

. On 8 September 2020, Benito agreed to a one-year loan deal with

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Lo ...

, freshly relegated to the third division.

Personal life

Benito's elder brother, Ander, is also a footballer. A defender, he was groomed at

Amurrio Club Amurrio Club is a Spanish football team based in Amurrio, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1949, it currently plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 4, holding home games at '' Estadio Basarte'', with a 4,000-seater ca ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

;Alavés * Segunda División: 2015–16

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benito, Asier 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Álava Spanish men's footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Men's association football forwards Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Super League Greece players Deportivo Alavés B players Deportivo Alavés players Athletic Bilbao B footballers SD Eibar footballers SD Ponferradina players CD Numancia players CD Aurrerá de Vitoria footballers Asteras Tripolis F.C. players