Sabin Merino Zuloaga (Basque: [s̺aβin meɾino]; Spanish: [saˈβim meˈɾino]; born 4 January 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays mainly as a left winger.
 Merino with Athletic Bilbao in 2016 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sabin Merino Zuloaga | ||
| Date of birth | 4 January 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Urduliz, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2002 | Danok Bat | ||
| 2002–2005 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| 2005–2008 | Danok Bat | ||
| 2008–2009 | Javanon | ||
| 2009–2011 | Danok Bat | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–2013 | Basconia | 70 | (27) |
| 2012–2015 | Bilbao Athletic | 81 | (21) |
| 2015–2019 | Athletic Bilbao | 48 | (6) |
| 2018–2019 | → Leganés (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Leganés | 2 | (0) |
| 2020 | Deportivo La Coruña | 18 | (5) |
| 2020–2022 | Leganés | 50 | (11) |
| 2022–2024 | Zaragoza | 16 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | → Atlético San Luis (loan) | 23 | (2) |
| 2023–2024 | → Racing Ferrol (loan) | 36 | (5) |
| International career | |||
| 2016 | Basque Country | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 June 2024 | |||
Club career
editAthletic Bilbao
editBorn in Urduliz, Biscay, Basque Country, Merino graduated from Danok Bat CF's youth academy after spells at Athletic Bilbao's Lezama and American team Javanon FC.[1] In the summer of 2011 he returned to the Lions, and made his debut as a senior with the farm team in Tercera División.[2]
On 21 June 2013, Merino was promoted to the reserves in the Segunda División B.[3] On 29 June 2015, after scoring a career-best 18 goals during the season as they returned to Segunda División after a 19-year absence,[4] he was promoted to the main squad in La Liga.[5]
Merino made his official debut with the first team on 6 August 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute for Javier Eraso in a 0–0 away draw against Inter Baku PIK in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.[6] After the departure of Guillermo he was finally granted a place in the roster, being assigned #25.[7]
Merino started in the 4–0 home rout of FC Barcelona in the Supercopa de España on 14 August 2015 as a left winger, providing the assist for Aritz Aduriz's second goal.[8] He scored his first professional goal on 20 August, the first in a 3–2 Europa League playoff round loss at MŠK Žilina.[9]
Merino scored his first goal in the Spanish top flight on 23 September 2015, in a 1–2 home defeat against Real Madrid.[10]
Leganés
editOn 31 August 2018, Merino was loaned to CD Leganés in the same league for one year.[11] The following May, after Athletic released him, he automatically joined the Madrid club on a permanent one-year deal.[12]
Deportivo
editMerino signed for Deportivo de La Coruña of Segunda División on 14 January 2020, after agreeing to a two-and-a-half-year contract.[13] He scored four times in his first four matches with the club, surpassing previous holder Bebeto who held the distinction since 1992;[14] this feat earned him January's Segunda División Player of the Month award.[15]
Return to Leganés
editOn 17 August 2020, after Dépor's relegation, Merino returned to Leganés.[16] On 31 January 2022, he left as a free agent.[17]
Zaragoza
editOn 31 January 2022, Merino joined fellow second-tier side Real Zaragoza on a three-and-a-half-year deal.[18] In July, he was loaned to Atlético San Luis of the Liga MX.[19]
On 25 July 2023, Merino went on loan to Racing de Ferrol for the upcoming season.[20] In August of the following year, he terminated his contract with Zaragoza.[21]
International career
editMerino was never capped by Spain at any level. He did feature for the unofficial Basque Country regional team.[22]
Honours
editAthletic Bilbao
Individual
- Segunda División Player of the Month: January 2020[15]
References
edit- ^ Martín, Asís (4 December 2013). "El cachorro Sabin Merino es seguido por varios clubes ingleses" [Pup Sabin Merino is tracked by several English clubs] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ "La apuesta del Athletic es Sabin Merino" [Athletic's bet is Sabin Merino]. Deia (in Spanish). 16 June 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ "Bilbao Athletic pre-season". Athletic Bilbao. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ García, Alberto (29 June 2015). "Sabin Merino: El capitán de récord que pudo ser también héroe" [Sabin Merino: the record captain who could also have been the hero]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ "Dismissals in Bilbao Athletic". Athletic Bilbao. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ Cuenca, Nika (30 July 2015). "Eraso arranca con el pie derecho en Bilbao" [Eraso starts off on the right foot in Bilbao]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- ^ "Williams hereda el '15' de Iraola y Bóveda el '2' de Toquero" [Williams inherits the '15' from Iraola and Bóveda the '2' from Toquero]. Marca (in Spanish). 13 August 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- ^ a b Estepa, Javier (14 August 2015). "Aduriz echa al Barça a los leones" [Aduriz throws Barça to the lions]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- ^ Ballesteros, Cristian (20 August 2015). "El Athletic se deja sorprender por el Zilina" [Athletic let themselves be surprised by Zilina]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 August 2015.
- ^ "Ath Bilbao 1–2 Real Madrid". BBC Sport. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
- ^ "El extremo Sabin Merino, cedido al C.D. Leganés para la presente temporada" [Winger Sabin Merino, loaned to C.D. Leganés for the current season] (in Spanish). CD Leganés. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ Martín, Francisco Javier (8 May 2019). "El Athletic libera a Merino, que seguirá en el Leganés hasta 2020" [Athletic release Merino, who will continue at Leganés until 2020]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 October 2019.
- ^ "New 2019–2020 Deportivo player! Sabin Merino". Deportivo La Coruña. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
- ^ Fuentes, Fran (2 February 2020). "Sabin Merino supera el hito de Bebeto" [Sabin Merino surpasses Bebeto's milestone] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Merino named LaLiga SmartBank Player of the Month for January". La Liga. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ "Sabin Merino will be part of C.D Leganés again for the 2020/21 season". CD Leganés. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
- ^ "El C.D. Leganés y Sabin Merino no continuarán juntos" [C.D. Leganés and Sabin Merino will not continue together] (in Spanish). CD Leganés. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ "El Real Zaragoza refuerza su ataque con Sabin Merino" [Real Zaragoza bolster their attack with Sabin Merino] (in Spanish). Real Zaragoza. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ R. Bravo, Chema (2 July 2022). "El Zaragoza hace oficial la cesión de Sabin Merino" [Zaragoza confirm Sabin Merino loan]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ "Acuerdo con el Racing de Ferrol para la cesión de Sabin Merino" [Agreement with Racing de Ferrol for the loan of Sabin Merino] (in Spanish). Real Zaragoza. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- ^ Marín, Javier (30 August 2024). "Oficial: Sabin Merino rescinde el año que le restaba de contrato" [Official: Sabin Merino rescinds the remaining year of his contract]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "Catalunya 0–1 Euskal Selekzioa" [Catalonia 0–1 Basque XI] (in Spanish). Basque Football Federation. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
External links
edit- Sabin Merino at Athletic Bilbao
- Sabin Merino at BDFutbol
- Sabin Merino – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Sabin Merino at Soccerway