.jpg) San José training withAthletic Bilbao in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mikel San José Domínguez[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1989-05-30)30 May 1989 (age 36)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Pamplona, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder,centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Chantrea | |||
| 2005–2007 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007–2010 | Liverpool | 0 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | →Athletic Bilbao (loan) | 25 | (1) |
| 2010–2020 | Athletic Bilbao | 279 | (26) |
| 2020–2021 | Birmingham City | 27 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Amorebieta | 27 | (1) |
| Total | 358 | (28) | |
| International career | |||
| 2007–2008 | Spain U19 | 16 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | Spain U21 | 8 | (1) |
| 2012 | Spain U23 | 1 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 | Spain | 7 | (0) |
| 2011–2019 | Basque Country | 7 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Mikel San José Domínguez (Basque:[mikels̺anxos̺edominɡes̻];Spanish:[ˈmikelsaŋxoˈseðoˈmiŋɡeθ];[A] born 30 May 1989) is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played as adefensive midfielder orcentre-back.
After starting out atLiverpool's reserves San José joinedAthletic Bilbao in 2009, initially on loan, and went on to make 397 competitive appearances for the club (winning the2015 Supercopa de España) before his departure in 2020. He then spent a season back in England withChampionship clubBirmingham City, and retired in 2022 after one year atAmorebieta in theSegunda División.
San José won European Championships withSpain atunder-19 andunder-21 level. He made his senior international debut in 2014, and was a member of the squad at theUEFA Euro 2016 tournament.
San José was born inPamplona,Navarre,[1] where by the age of six he was playing football atTxantrea, anursery club of theBasque Country-basedAthletic Bilbao.[3] At 16, he left home to joinAthletic's academy,[4] where he began atJuvenil B level and moved up to theJuvenil A team for the 2006–07 season, during which he made 27 appearances and scored five goals.[1]
In August 2007,Premier League clubLiverpool confirmed that the 18-year-old San José had joined on a three-year contract for a fee reported as €400,000.[5] He believed he had a greater chance of top-flight football viaLiverpool's reserves than by accepting what he saw as an unconvincing offer of bypassingAthletic's third team to play fortheir B team in theSegunda División B.[6] Over the next two seasons, he played regularly for Liverpool Reserves,[7] and helped them win the2007–08 Premier Reserve League title.[8] He frequently trained with the first team,[6] but the closest he came to playing for them was in February 2008 as an unusedsubstitute againstChelsea.[4]
In August 2009, San José returned to Athletic Bilbao on a season-long loan to gain more first-team experience.[9] He was given the number 12 shirt, and made his debut on 17 September 2009 in a 3–0 group stage home win againstAustria Wien in the2009–10 UEFA Europa League.[10][11] It was reported in early November 2009 that he was frustrated by the lack of first-team opportunities, and that if this did not improve he would look to shorten the loan agreement and move either back to Liverpool or on loan to another club in January 2010;[12] he finally made hisLa Liga debut on the 8th, playing the last two minutes of the 2–0 away win overRacing Santander,[13] and finishedthe campaign with 30 overall appearances, netting three times.[14][15][16]
On 19 May 2010, San José was signed permanently by Athletic on a five-year contract.[17] Inhis first year, he was periodically charged withpenalty-taking by managerJoaquín Caparrós, replacing longtime regularAndoni Iraola.[18]
In his firstBasque derby againstReal Sociedad, at theAnoeta Stadium on 5 December 2010, the first goal was scored from a penalty conceded by San José, who scored anown goal early in the second half to complete the 2–0 defeat.[19]The following season, he was an unusedsubstitute in theCopa del Rey and theEuropa League finals, both lost.
San José finished the 2012–13 campaign with six goals in all competitions comprised, five in the league as theLions finished 12th, and was often utilized as adefensive midfielder by coachMarcelo Bielsa.[20] His other successful strike was his first in aEuropean competition, in a 3–3 draw away toHJK in theEuropa League play-off round second leg.[21]
San José scored the first ever goal for Athletic Bilbao atthe new San Mamés Stadium on 16 September 2013, from close range in a 3–2 defeat ofCelta Vigo.[22][23] He began to be overshadowed by fellow youth graduateAymeric Laporte, however.[24][25]
On 25 November 2014, San José scored his first goal in theUEFA Champions League, the only one in agroup match away toShakhtar Donetsk – nonetheless, the opponents advanced at Athletic's expense.[26] He also netted the opening goal of a4–0 win againstBarcelona in the first leg of the 2015Supercopa de España, striking from 46 metres (50 yd) after a clearance from opposing goalkeeperMarc-André ter Stegen.[27]
In September 2019, San José reached the milestone of ten years with the same club.[10] On 24 November, he celebrated his 300th appearance in the Spanish top division in a 2–1 away victory againstOsasuna, breaking a 31–game undefeated streak of the hosts at theirEl Sadar Stadium.[28]
In July 2020, Athletic confirmed that San José's contract would not be extended beyond that summer, although the departure was delayed beyond its usual June expiry afterthe season was postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Spain. His contribution (along with long-serving colleagueBeñat Etxebarria, also leaving in similar circumstances)[29] was acknowledged at the last home fixture on 16 July 2020 in an empty San Mamés[30] – he was in the matchday squad but did not leave the bench,[31] with his last appearance four months earlier in theSpanish Cup semi-finals;[32][33] His team won that tie, but the circumstances of the delay and the end of his spell at the club meant he would have no opportunity to take part inthe final.
On 21 September 2020, San José signed a two-year deal with EnglishChampionship clubBirmingham City, whose head coach was fellow BasqueAitor Karanka.[34] He made his first-team debut, on 20 October away toNorwich City, in unfortunate circumstances: midfielderAdam Clayton was sent off after 86 goalless minutes, but before there was a stoppage in play to allow San José to come on, Norwich scored the winning goal.[35][36] He made what theBirmingham Mail dubbed an authoritative full debut playing in central midfield, looking "assured on the ball, intelligent off it",[37] and away toPreston North End a week later he "looked even more accomplished" in the centre of a back three before moving into midfield from where he crossed the ball forGary Gardner's winning goal.[38] As matches – and poor results – became more frequent, San José's level of performance dropped, he appeared to tire, mistakes appeared, and he lost his place in the matchday squad.[39][40][41] Under new head coachLee Bowyer, he seemed back to his best in a second-half cameo away toDerby County as Birmingham avoided relegation,[42] but on 28 May, his contract was terminated by mutual consent at his own request.[43]
On 8 July 2021, San José returned to Spain, signing a one-year deal with the newly promotedSegunda División clubAmorebieta.[44] He played 27 games as they were relegated, plus one in the cup, scoring once on 2 April to open a 3–1 home win overIbiza.[45] He announced his retirement from professional football on 14 August 2022.[46]
San José was part of theSpanish team who captured the2007 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. Having made 16 appearances in that category, he progressed tothe under-21s in early 2009.[47]
On 29 August 2014, San José was named byfull side managerVicente del Bosque in a 23-man squad for matches againstFrance andMacedonia in September.[48] He made his debut on 4 September, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 0–1friendly loss to the former,[49] and was subsequently selected for theUEFA Euro 2016 tournament alongside Athletic teammateAritz Aduriz.[50]
San José also made seven appearances for theBasque Country representative team between 2011 and 2019.[51]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Athletic Bilbao[1] | 2009–10 | La Liga | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5[b] | 2 | — | 30 | 3 | |
| 2010–11 | La Liga | 31 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 2 | |||
| 2011–12 | La Liga | 24 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 8[b] | 0 | — | 38 | 3 | ||
| 2012–13 | La Liga | 34 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4[b] | 1 | — | 40 | 6 | ||
| 2013–14 | La Liga | 25 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 5 | |||
| 2014–15 | La Liga | 28 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 9[c] | 2 | — | 43 | 8 | ||
| 2015–16 | La Liga | 34 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 10[b] | 1 | 1[d] | 1 | 51 | 4 | |
| 2016–17 | La Liga | 35 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 4 | |
| 2017–18 | La Liga | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11[b] | 0 | — | 38 | 1 | ||
| 2018–19 | La Liga | 33 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 37 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20 | La Liga | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| Total | 304 | 27 | 39 | 3 | 53 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 397 | 37 | ||
| Birmingham City | 2020–21[52] | Championship | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 | ||
| Amorebieta | 2021–22[53] | Segunda División | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 358 | 28 | 41 | 3 | 53 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 453 | 38 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2014 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 0 | |
Athletic Bilbao
Spain U19
Spain U21
