Mikel Aranburu Eizagirre (born 18 February 1979) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a

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 career with

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, ...

, appearing in 427 official matches for the club and scoring 32 goals.

Club career

Born in Azpeitia,

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

, Aranburu made his professional debut aged 18, in the last round of 1996–97 against CD Logroñés, courtesy of manager Javier Irureta. From his fourth season onwards he became a full member of the main squad, being essential as the

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

finished second in

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 ...

in 2002–03 by contributing 34 games and two goals. Aranburu was seriously injured in 2005–06, and returned to major action only to see Real be relegated the following year, the first time in four decades. He continued to be an important first-team member during 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 ...

campaigns, appearing in 35 matches in 2009–10 to help the ''Txuriurdin'' to return to the top flight after three years. In 2010–11, Aranburu was once again first-choice, partnering Diego Rivas in central defensive midfield in most of the games. He equalled a career-best five goals, including two in a 4–0 away win over

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

– he only played five minutes in the match– and the all-important last-minute winner at home against Real Zaragoza in the 36th round (2–1), as the side narrowly retained their league status.

Honours

: 2009–10

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aranburu, Mikel 1979 births Living people People from Azpeitia Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Gipuzkoa Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Sociedad B footballers Real Sociedad footballers Basque Country men's international footballers

Club career

Honours

See also

References

External links