Yuri Berchiche Izeta (born 10 February 1990) 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-back 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 ...

for

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 ...

club Athletic Bilbao. He began his senior career at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

without making a first-team appearance, being loaned to

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

and

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 ...

. In 2010 he joined

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFE ...

in the

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 ...

, moving on to

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

who loaned him two years to

Eibar Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eusta ...

, where he won two successive promotions, later spending three seasons in

with Real, leading to him being signed by

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

in 2017; he played a part in a treble-winning season in France, but transferred back to the Basque region with Athletic Bilbao in 2018.

Club career

Early years and Tottenham

Born in

Zarautz Zarautz (, es, Zarauz) is a coastal town located in central Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, in Spain. It is bordered by Aia to the east and the south and Getaria to the west, located about west of San Sebastián. It has four enclaves limiting the ...

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) 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 depa ...

, Basque Country to an

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n father and a Spanish mother, Berchiche started his career in the ''

cantera Cantera, literally meaning "quarry" in Spanish, is a term used in Spain to refer to youth academies and farm teams organized by sports clubs. It is also used to refer to the geographical area that clubs recruit players from. The term is widely u ...

'' of

, but left for rivals Athletic Bilbao at the age of 16. On 8 June 2007 Athletic and

agreed on a transfer, and the player continued his footballing development in England at the club's academy; while playing for Tottenham's under-18 at the Eurofoot Tournament in Belgium, he was named "Player of the tournament", as Spurs won the competition after beating

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

4–0 in the final. Berchiche joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

team

on a month's loan, on 26 March 2009. He made his league debut two days later, in a 1–1 away draw against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

. In April 2009, Berchiche made a robust tackle on Scunthorpe United's

Henri Lansbury Henri George Lansbury (born 12 October 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Championship side Luton Town. He previously played for Arsenal, where he ascended from the club's academy. Lansbury also had spells ...

(on loan from Arsenal), leaving his opponent with a suspected broken leg. Although he was not

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for the challenge, Cheltenham manager

Martin Allen Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and ...

ordered him to leave the field anyway; it was later revealed that Lansbury did not sustain any major damage to his leg. In July 2009, Berchiche returned to Spain and joined

, still on loan. Benefitting from the absence of longtime incumbent Alberto Marcos due to injury, he started in the first league game, a 0–0 draw at

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

. It would be his only

appearance of the season as he was mainly registered by the reserves, and the

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

side also suffered relegation.

Real Sociedad

In the summer of 2010, aged 20, Berchiche was released by Tottenham, signing a two-year contract with

in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

. On 29 June 2012, after two full campaigns, he returned to Real Sociedad, who immediately loaned him to another team in the third tier, neighbouring

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

. In early 2014, Berchiche renewed his contract with the ''Txuriurdin'' until 2016. In June, after helping Eibar obtain promotion to the top flight for the first time in its history, he was selected by the

Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional The Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (), also known as LaLiga (the abbreviation LFP was also used until the 2015-16 season), is a sports association responsible for administering the two professional Association football, football leagues in S ...

to its starting XI. Berchiche returned to Real Sociedad in August 2014, being assigned to the main squad. He subsequently became the starter, replacing longtime incumbent Alberto de la Bella.

Paris Saint-Germain

On 7 July 2017, Berchiche signed a four-year contract with

Paris Saint-Germain FC Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As F ...

. He made his

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

debut on 8 September, playing the full 90 minutes in the 5–1 away win against

FC Metz Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz (), is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 2, the second division in the French football league sys ...

. His first goal in the competition arrived on 20 December, in a 3–1 home victory over Stade Malherbe Caen. Berchiche played 32 competitive matches in his only season, winning three trophies including the national championship and the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

, defeating amateurs

Les Herbiers VF Les Herbiers Vendée Football is a French football club based in Les Herbiers, Vendée. It was founded in 1919. They play at the Stade Massabielle, which has a capacity of 5,000 people. The colours of the club are red and black. From the 2015� ...

2–0 in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the latter tournament.

Athletic Bilbao

On 2 July 2018, PSG announced they had agreed a deal with Athletic Bilbao for the permanent transfer of Berchiche (an initial fee of €19 million, with a further €6 million in possible add-ons). The contract was announced as running through 2022, with a release clause of €100 million. He scored in only his second league appearance on 27 August, helping the hosts draw 2–2 against

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded on 29 March 1960, SD Huesca plays in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in ...

. On 5 March 2020, late in the semi-final second leg of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

against

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

, Berchiche scored and enabled his team to progress on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

. In addition to the decisive game, which was delayed until April 2021 by the

COVID-19 pandemic in Spain The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Spain on 31 January 2020, when a German tourist tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in La Gomera, Canary Island ...

, they also qualified for the 2020–21 Supercopa de España which they won by beating

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

; however, he was unable to take part in those matches due to a thigh injury sustained against the same opposition a few weeks earlier. He recovered by the time the postponed 2020 final did take place, but his side lost to his previous employers Real Sociedad. Athletic also reached the 2021 Copa del Rey Final, played two weeks after the 2020 edition, only to be defeated again, 4–0 by Barcelona. That proved to be the player's last appearance of the campaign due to a persistent

pubalgia Athletic pubalgia, also called sports hernia, core injury, hockey hernia, hockey groin, Gilmore's groin, or groin disruption is a medical condition of the pubic joint affecting athletes. It is a syndrome characterized by chronic groin pain in a ...

issue which light treatment failed to cure, and an operation was carried out in July with an estimated recovery time of three months – manager

Marcelino García Toral Marcelino García Toral (; born 14 August 1965), known simply as Marcelino in his playing days, is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. During a ten-year senior career, he amassed La Liga totals o ...

expressed his frustration at the delay in the injury being dealt with. Despite his physical problems, in October he agreed to an extension to his contract to run until 2024.

International career

Berchiche represented

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

at under-17 and under-18 levels. He also featured for the unofficial Basque Country regional team. Berchiche declined approaches to play for

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

on several occasions.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Eibar *

: 2013–14 Paris Saint Germain *

: 2017–18 *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

: 2017–18 Athletic Bilbao *

runner-up: 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berchiche, Yuri 1990 births Living people People from Zarautz Spanish people of Algerian descent Spanish sportspeople of African descent European sportspeople of Algerian descent Spanish footballers Footballers from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Antiguoko players Athletic Bilbao footballers Real Valladolid Promesas players Real Valladolid players Real Unión footballers Real Sociedad footballers SD Eibar footballers English Football League players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Ligue 1 players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Spain youth international footballers Basque Country international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France