Sabin Merino

Sabin Merino Zuloaga (Basque: [s̺aβin meɾino]; Spanish: [saˈβin meˈɾino]; born 4 January 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for CD Leganés mainly as a left winger.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Merino and the second or maternal family name is Zuloaga.
Sabin Merino
Merino with Athletic Bilbao in 2016
Personal information
Full name Sabin Merino Zuloaga
Date of birth (1992-01-04) 4 January 1992
Place of birth Urduliz, Spain
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Leganés
Number 9
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– Leganés 3 (3)
National team‡
2016– Basque Country 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 September 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 31 December 2016

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Born 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 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 for the campaign's 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 for 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, netting the first in a 2–3 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

On 31 August 2018, Merino was loaned to fellow league side CD Leganés 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

Merino 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

On 17 August 2020, after Dépor's relegation, Merino returned to Leganés.[16]

International career

Merino was never capped by Spain at any level. He did feature for the unofficial Basque Country regional team.[17]

Honours

Athletic Bilbao

Individual

References
  1. 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.
  2. "La apuesta del Athletic es Sabin Merino" [Athletic's bet is Sabin Merino]. Deia (in Spanish). 16 June 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  3. "Bilbao Athletic pre-season". Athletic Bilbao. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  4. 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.
  5. "Dismissals in Bilbao Athletic". Athletic Bilbao. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  6. 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.
  7. "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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. "Ath Bilbao 1–2 Real Madrid". BBC Sport. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  11. "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.
  12. 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.
  13. "New 2019–2020 Deportivo player! Sabin Merino". Deportivo La Coruña. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  14. 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.
  15. "Merino named LaLiga SmartBank Player of the Month for January". La Liga. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  16. "Sabin Merino will be part of C.D Leganés again for the 2020/21 season". CD Leganés. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  17. "Catalunya 0–1 Euskal Selekzioa" [Catalonia 0–1 Basque XI] (in Spanish). Basque Football Federation. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
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