Aritz Elustondo

Aritz Elustondo
Elustondo with Real Sociedad in 2018
Personal information
Full name Aritz Elustondo Irribarria[1]
Date of birth (1994-03-28) 28 March 1994[1]
Place of birth Beasain, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2][1]
Position Defender
Team information
Current team
 PAOK
Number 6
Youth career
Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2015 Real Sociedad B 59 (6)
2012–2013 → Beasain (loan) 29 (0)
2015–2026 Real Sociedad 243 (11)
2026– PAOK 0 (0)
International career‡
2016 Spain U21 1 (0)
2018– Basque Country 3 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 12:52, 26 May 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 24 March 2024

Aritz Elustondo Irribarria (born 28 March 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays mainly as a right-back but also as a central defender for Super League Greece club PAOK.

Club career

Real Sociedad

Born in Beasain, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country,[3] Elustondo graduated from Real Sociedad's youth system. On 13 July 2012, he was loaned to Tercera División club SD Beasain,[4] where he made his senior debut.[5]

Elustondo returned to his alma mater in June 2013, and was assigned to the reserves in the Segunda División B. He signed a new contract on 31 January 2014, running until 2016.[6]

On 14 January 2015, Elustondo made his first-team debut, starting in a 2–2 home draw against Villarreal CF in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.[7] He first appeared in La Liga three days later, in the 0–1 home loss to Rayo Vallecano.[8][5]

Elustondo scored his first professional goal on 31 January 2015, but in a 4–1 defeat at Real Madrid.[9] On 3 January of the following year, having been regularly used by new manager Eusebio Sacristán, he agreed to an extension until 2020.[10]

Elustondo remained at Anoeta Stadium in the ensuing years, signing new deals in February 2018 (to June 2022)[11] and August 2020 (to June 2024).[12] He made his 300th competitive appearance for Real on 30 November 2025, in a 2–3 home loss against Villarreal.[13][14]

Elustondo left the club at the end of 2025–26 at the age of 32 and with 313 total games to his credit, including four in the season's domestic cup which his team won.[15]

PAOK

On 28 June 2026, after failing to have his contract renewed, Elustondo moved abroad for the first time and signed with Super League Greece side PAOK FC.[16]

International career

Elustondo won his only cap for Spain at under-21 level on 28 March 2016, featuring the entire 1–0 win over Norway in a friendly held in Murcia.[17]

Career statistics

As of match played 23 May 2026[18][19][20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Copa del Rey Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Sociedad B 2013–14 Segunda División B 314——00314
2014–15 242——00242
2015–16 40——0040
Total 596000000596
Real Sociedad 2014–15 La Liga 4120——61
2015–16 31100——311
2016–17 9030——120
2017–18 193005[a]0—243
2018–19 27120——291
2019–20 2205[b]0——270
2020–21 231203[a]000281
2021–22 304406[a]0—404
2022–23 250506[a]1—361
2023–24 150505[c]0—250
2024–25 2203010[a]0—350
2025–26 16040——200
Total 243113503510031312
Career total 302173503510037218
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ↑ Includes appearance in 2020 Copa del Rey final (played in 2021)
  3. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

Real Sociedad

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Aritz Elustondo Irribarria". Real Sociedad. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  2. ↑ Aritz Elustondo at AS.com (in Spanish)
  3. ↑ "Aritz Elustondo: "La Real es el club de mi vida"" [Aritz Elustondo: "Real is the club of my life"] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  4. ↑ "Zuhaitz Gurrutxagak eta Aritz Elustondok Beasainen jokatuko dute aurten" [Zuhaitz Gurrutxaga and Aritz Elustondo will play in Beasain this year] (in Basque). Beasain Hitza. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 Ramajo, Roberto (17 January 2021). "Aritz, seis años latiendo de txuri-urdin" [Aritz, six years beating in blue-and-white]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Aritz Elustondo renueva hasta 2016" [Aritz Elustondo renews until 2016] (in Spanish). Real Sociedad. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "El Villarreal no pierde el control" [Villarreal do not lose control]. Marca (in Spanish). 14 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  8. ↑ S. Ramos, Antonio (17 January 2015). "Manucho castiga a Moyes" [Manucho punishes Moyes]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Real Madrid smash David Moyes' Real Sociedad". ESPN FC. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  10. ↑ Ramajo, Roberto (5 January 2016). "El canterano Aritz Elustondo renueva hasta 2020" [Youth graduate Aritz Elustondo renews until 2020]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "Aritz Elustondo renueva hasta 2022" [Aritz Elustondo renews until 2022]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 5 February 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  12. ↑ "La Real renueva a Elustondo hasta 2024" [Real renew with Elustondo until 2024] (in Spanish). BeSoccer. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  13. ↑ López, Ángel (1 December 2025). "Aritz alcanza los 300 partidos en la Real: «Qué decir de lo orgulloso que me siento»" [Aritz reaches 300 games at Real: "Words cannot express how proud I feel"]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  14. ↑ Badallo, Óscar (1 December 2025). "Aritz: "Estoy orgulloso de llegar a 300 partidos con la Real, el equipo de mi vida"" [Aritz: "I am proud of reaching 300 games with Real, the team of my life"]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  15. ↑ Indart, Jon (24 May 2026). "Último adiós a Aritz Elustondo en Cornellà" [Last goodbye to Aritz Elustondo at Cornellà]. Noticias de Gipuzkoa (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2026.
  16. ↑ Badallo, Óscar (28 June 2026). "Aritz ya posa como jugador del Paok" [Aritz is already posing as a Paok player]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  17. ↑ "Delofeu [sic] da la victoria a España sub-21 en el amistoso contra Noruega" [Deulofeu gives win to Spain under-21 in the friendly against Norway] (in Spanish). RTVE. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  18. ↑ Aritz Elustondo at BDFutbol
  19. ↑ Aritz Elustondo at Soccerway
  20. ↑ Aritz Elustondo at FBref.com
  21. ↑ Reidy, Paul (3 April 2021). "Athletic Club 0–1 Real Sociedad: result, summary, goal". Diario AS. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  22. ↑ Lowe, Sid (3 April 2021). "Real Sociedad beat Athletic to claim Copa del Rey and Basque glory". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  23. ↑ Anderson, Jess (18 April 2026). "Atletico Madrid 2–2 Real Sociedad (Real Sociedad win 4–3 on pens)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
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