David Zurutuza Veillet (born 19 July 1986) is a Spanish former

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 lea ...

who played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He spent his entire professional career contracted to

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, with whom he made 303 competitive appearances over 12 seasons, and was also loaned to

Eibar Eibar (, ) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi. It is the capital of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Debabarrena. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat, 2018). Its chief industry is ...

in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

Early years

Zurutuza was born in

Rochefort, Charente-Maritime Rochefort (; ), unofficially Rochefort-sur-Mer (; ) for disambiguation, is a city and communes of France, commune in Southwestern France, a port on the Charente (river), Charente estuary. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Cha ...

, France, to a French mother and a Spanish father; the family returned to the latter's native Basque Country shortly after. He held both

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and French nationalities.

Club career

Zurutuza joined

's youth system after starting his football career in Deba, Gipuzkoa. In the 2007–08 season, he was loaned to neighbours

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

. Zurutuza spent the following campaign with Real's B team in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

, suffering relegation. On 23 November 2008 he made his debut for the main squad, playing ten minutes as a substitute for

Necati Ateş Necati Ateş (; born 3 January 1980) is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is the current assistant manager of Greek Super League club Panathinaikos. Club career Born in İzmir, Ateş made his professional deb ...

in a 1–0 home win against

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

. In 2009–10, Zurutuza contributed four goals in 28 games as Real Sociedad returned to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

after a three-year absence. He continued to be first choice the next season, making his debut in the competition on 29 August 2010 in the 1–0 home victory over

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

and scoring his first goal on 28 November in a 3–1 away defeat of

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

; he only missed two league matches as the club managed to retain its status. On 31 August 2014, in the second matchday of the new season, Zurutuza put on a ''

Player of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

'' performance at home against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, his brace helping Real Sociedad come from 2–0 behind to win 4–2. Five years later, on 14 September, he made his 300th appearance against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. Zurutuza retired from football in July 2020, at the age of 34.

Career statistics

Honours

Real Sociedad *

: 2009–10

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zurutuza, David 1986 births Living people People from Hendaye People from Rochefort, Charente-Maritime French people of Spanish descent French people of Basque descent Spanish people of French descent Sportspeople of Spanish descent 21st-century Spanish sportsmen 21st-century French sportsmen Spanish men's footballers French men's footballers Footballers from Charente-Maritime Footballers from Gipuzkoa Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Real Sociedad B footballers Real Sociedad footballers SD Eibar footballers Basque Country men's international footballers