Aritz Aduriz Biography, Career, Age, Net Worth, Market Value, Personal Life, Family and Many More

Spanish footballer Aritz Aduriz currently plays as a striker for the La Liga club Athletic Bilbao besides his regular participation for the Spanish national football team since 2010. He earned praises from football pundits for his amazing perfection of first-touch and aerial ball control. Aduriz started his football journey while playing for his native club Antiguoko during his childhood. He played for several clubs in his professional career but spent most of his time with Athletic Bilbao. Till now, he has scored more than 100 goals for Bilbao. Besides, he also earned prominence during his time in Mallorca and Valencia.

Aritz Aduriz Biography

Aduriz started his professional football journey while playing for Aurrerá Vitoria in the 1999-2000 season. He then joined Athletic Bilbao where he spent most of his senior career. Besides, he also played for several clubs such as Valladolid, Mallorca and Valencia. He also played for the Spanish football team since 2010 and participated in the UEFA Euro 2016 at the age of 35. Besides Spain, he also played friendly matches for the Basque national side. He is undoubtedly one of the best strikers Spain has ever produced.

Aritz Aduriz Full Biography

Aritz Aduriz Early Career

He started playing football during his early childhood with his native friends on the sand at La Concha beach. Aduriz then joined the youth academy system of native club Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea in 1994, at the age of just 13. He played with several great players in the academy such as Xabi Alonso and Mikel Arteta. Aduriz then transferred to the youth system of CD Aurrerá de Vitoria in 1999. After spending a year with the club, he joined the famous Lezama youth system at Athletic Bilbao in 2000. He then earned his promotion through the reserve teams before finally making his professional debut in 2002.

Aritz Aduriz Athletic Bilbao Career

After spending a good two-year at the academy sharpening his skills, Aduriz earned his selection in the first squad of Athletic Bilbao. He made his debut for the club in a La Liga match against FC Barcelona on 14^th September 2002. He made two more appearances in the same La Liga season for the club. Besides the first team, he went on to play for the Bilbao B-squad and made 100 appearances in Segunda División B. He then spent almost three seasons playing on loan for Burgos CF and Real Valladolid in Segunda División.

He made his comeback at Bilbao in December 2005 and gradually became their permanent first-squad member over the next season. Aduriz scored his first hat-trick for the club against Real Zaragoza on 19^th May 2007. He played 34 games while scoring nine times in the 2006-07 season. He again scored seven goals in 33 La Liga appearances for Bilbao in the following season.

Aritz Aduriz Mallorca Career

Aduriz became the first player ever to score at the Colchester Community Stadium. He achieved the feat in a friendly match against Colchester United on 4^th August 2008. Shortly after, he signed a four-year contract with RCD Mallorca on 23^rd August 2008. He scored his first brace for the club against RCD Espanyol on 26^th October 2008. Mallorca achieved the ninth position in the league that season while Aduriz became the team’s top scorer. The following year, Mallorca achieved the fifth position in the league and UEFA Europa League qualification. Aduriz scored 12 goals that season for the Balearic Islands side.

Aritz Aduriz Full Club Career

Aritz Aduriz Valencia Career

Aduriz moved to La Liga side Valencia CF for a transfer fee of €4 million on 14^th July 2010, at the age of 29. He made his debut and scored his first goal for the club against Málaga CF on 28^th August 2010. But tragically, he spent most of the season on the bench after the arrival of Brazilian Jonas in January 2011. As the manager Unai Emery preferred Roberto Soldado and Jonas over Aduriz, he got very few chances to show his prominence that season. But still, he manages to score 14 times for Valencia that season which includes two goals in the UEFA Champions League.

Aritz Aduriz Return to Athletic Bilbao

Aduriz returned to his former club Athletic Bilbao after signing a three-year contract with the club on 27^th June 2012 for a transfer fee of €2.5 million. He then scored his first goal for the club in his second spell in a Europa League playoff match against HJK Helsinki on 23^rd August 2012. He scored his first brace for the club against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium on 20^th October 2012. Aduriz earned his permanent place in the first-squad of Bilbao and scored 18 goals for the club in his first season. He then scored his first hat-trick in his second spell against Granada CF on 28^th February 2014.

Aduriz scored his 100^th La Liga goal against Barcelona on 8^th February 2015. Media started noticing his prominence in the league after he scored a hat-trick for the club in the first leg of the Supercopa de España against one of the biggest football clubs Barcelona on 14^th August 2015. Shortly after, he signed a contract extension on 16^th October 2015 which kept him at the club till 2017. He then scored his 100^th goal for Bilbao in a Europa League group stage match against FK Partizan on 5^th November 2015. He scored his ‘wonder goal’ in the Europa League round-of-32 match against Olympique de Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome on 18^th February 2016.

Aduriz scored thrice and named as the La Liga Player of the Month for March 2016. He then scored an impressive five-goal haul in a Europa League group stage match against K.R.C. Genk on 3^rd November 2016. Shortly after, he signed another contract extension with Bilbao in November 2017, which could keep him at the club until summer 2019. He again earned the La Liga Player of the Month for the second time in January 2018.

Aritz Aduriz Spain Career

Aritz Aduriz International Career

Aduriz earned his first call-up for the Spanish senior squad in October 2010 to participate in two UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches. He made his international debut against Lithuania on 8th October 2010. After a six-year gap, he earned his second call-up under new manager Vicente del Bosque to play few friendly matches. He made his second appearance and scored his first international goal against Italy at the Stadio Friuli on 24^th March 2016. He then inducted into the Spanish squad of UEFA Euro 2016 in France. Aduriz made two appearances in the competition as the second-half substitute of Álvaro Morata. He became Spain’s oldest ever goalscorer after scoring in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Macedonia on 12^th November 2016. He achieved the feat at the age of 35 years and 275 days.

Aritz Aduriz Personal Life

Born in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Aduriz spent most of his childhood days playing with the native boys at the La Concha beach. His family had interest in outdoor games such as of surfing, mountaineering and cross-country skiing. Both his parents were pretty good at the latter for which Aduriz also showed his prominence in skiing. He became the runner-up in the Spanish national cadet skiing championships during his early days. Aduriz likes to keep his personal life out of the limelight. He is now married to his long-time girlfriend Ainhoa Aduriz.

Aritz Aduriz Net Worth

The current market value of Aritz Aduriz stands at £900k as of 2018. His net worth is estimated to be around £5 Million as of the current year. He currently gets around £1.5 Million yearly salary from his club Athletic Bilbao. Besides his footballing income, he also made his fortune through several endorsement and sponsorship deals.

Aritz Aduriz Individual Awards

With Athletic Bilbao, Aduriz achieved the Supercopa de España in 2015. He also helped the club to become the runner-up of Copa del Rey 2014–15. He helped his international side Spain to achieve great successes over their opponents in international competitive matches. Besides his squad success, Aduriz has achieved several accolades in his impressive career. Some of the most notable awards that he received till now are as follows:

• Zarra Trophy: 2014–15 and 2015–16
• UEFA Europa League Top Scorer: 2015-16
• UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2015–16