Iñigo Córdoba Querejeta (; ; born 13 March 1997) is a Spanish professional

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 ...

who plays as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Dutch club

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

Club career

Born in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

, Basque Country, Córdoba joined

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

's youth setup in 2009, aged 12. He made his debuts as a senior with the farm team in the 2014–15 campaign, in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

. In summer 2015, Córdoba spent the whole pre-season with the reserves, newly promoted to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. On 12 September of that year he made his professional debut aged 18, coming on as a late substitute for Aitor Seguín in a 0–1 away loss against

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

; he started seven of his 21 appearances in the second tier, and remained with the B-team after their relegation at the end of the season. After a year as a regular starter in the third level, Córdoba signed a new contract until 2021, and was invited to train with the senior side in the 2017 pre-season. He made his first team – and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

– debut on 20 August, replacing

Mikel Balenziaga Mikel Balenziaga Oruesagasti (; ; born 29 February 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Athletic Bilbao. Club career Born in Zumarraga, Gipuzkoa, Balenziaga started his football grooming at Real Sociedad, pla ...

in a 0–0 home draw against

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

. He scored his first goal in a domestic league fixture away to

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...

on 9 April 2018, the opener in a 3–1 victory for his team. Before the end of the season he signed an extension to his contract, including a

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...

of upwards of €30 million, running until June 2022. On 1 February 2021, Córdoba joined

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. On 31 August, he moved abroad for the first time in his career, after agreeing to a one-year loan deal with Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

side

Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles () are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in the 2020-21 season. The club's h ...

. Upon returning to Athletic, Córdoba terminated his contract with the club on 7 July 2022. On 22 July, he returned to the Netherlands and signed a two-year deal with

International career

Having initially been called up to the Spain under-21 squad by coach

Albert Celades Albert Celades López (born 29 September 1975) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager. A tactically astute player with a strong defensive mentality, he was best known for his stints with Barcel ...

in October 2017, the following month Córdoba made his debut at that level, coming on as a half-time substitute for

Mikel Oyarzabal Mikel Oyarzabal Ugarte (born 21 April 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left winger or forward for La Liga club Real Sociedad and the Spain national team. He has spent his entire professional career with Real Sociedad, ...

and scoring within eight minutes of his introduction in an eventual 5–1 victory over

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

on 14 November 2017, in a

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Personal life

Córdoba has two brothers who are also footballers. His older sibling

Aitor Aitor is a Basque masculine given name, created by Agosti Xaho for a Basque ancestral patriarch descending from the Biblical Tubal in his work "The Legend of Aitor" (published in French in the journal ''Ariel'', 1845). Koldo Mitxelena believes th ...

(born 1995) is a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

who graduated from the youth setup at SD Leioa and played in the second division with

Burgos CF Burgos Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1985, it started to play in 1994. It currently plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at the ''Esta ...

Asier is a male given name of Basque origin, meaning 'the beginning' ( in Standard Basque). It was created for a character in Fernando Navarro Villoslada's 1877 novel . Notable people with the name include: Given name * Asier Antona Gómez (born 1976 ...

, the youngest of the three (born 2000) is also a winger, and was also groomed at Athletic Bilbao. Their sister Ainhoa (born 2001) plays for Leioa's women's team in the Basque regional league.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cordoba, Inigo 1997 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Bilbao Association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players CD Basconia footballers Bilbao Athletic footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers Deportivo Alavés players Eredivisie players Go Ahead Eagles players Fortuna Sittard players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands