Unai Nuñez
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Unai Núñez Gestoso | ||
Date of birth | 30 January 1997 | ||
Place of birth | Sestao, Spain | ||
Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
Position(s) | Centre back | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Athletic Bilbao | ||
Number | 3 | ||
Youth career | |||
2007–2015 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2015–2016 | Basconia | 28 | (1) |
2016–2017 | Bilbao Athletic | 33 | (3) |
2017– | Athletic Bilbao | 65 | (1) |
International career‡ | |||
2017–2019 | Spain U21 | 13 | (0) |
2019– | Spain | 1 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 July 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 September 2019 |
Unai Núñez Gestoso (Basque: [unai nuɲes̻]; Spanish: [ˈunaj ˈnuɲeθ]; born 30 January 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao and the Spanish national team.
Club career
Born in Sestao, Biscay, Basque Country and raised in neighbouring Portugalete, Núñez joined Athletic Bilbao's Lezama academy in 2007, aged ten.[1] He made his debut as a senior with the farm team in the 2015–16 season, in Tercera División.
On 7 June 2016, Núñez was promoted to the reserves, freshly relegated to Segunda División B.[2] He immediately became a starter for the side, appearing in 33 matches and scoring three goals during the campaign.
On 2 June 2017, Núñez was called up to the main squad for the pre-season by new first team manager José Ángel Ziganda.[3] He made his first team – and La Liga – debut on 20 August, starting in a 0–0 home draw against Getafe CF.[4]
On 30 October 2017, after already becoming a regular starter, Núñez renewed his contract until 2023, with a €30 million buyout clause.[5] The following 31 March he scored his first goal in the main category, netting the opener in a 1–1 home draw against Celta de Vigo.[6]
After 36 appearances in 2017–18, Núñez played much less (14 matches) during the 2018–19 season, initially finding himself behind rookie Peru Nolaskoain as well as Iñigo Martínez and Yeray Álvarez in the queue for selection in the position.[1]
International career
On 25 August 2017, Núñez received his first call-up to the Spain under-21 squad.[7] He was called up to the full side by manager Robert Moreno on 30 August 2019, for two UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Romania and the Faroe Islands.[8] He made his debut in the second fixture in Gijon on 8 September, coming on as a late substitute for Sergio Ramos with Spain 2–0 ahead; the final result was 4–0.[9]
Personal life
Núñez's father Abel was also a footballer and a defender who mainly represented Barakaldo CF during his career.[10][11] His older brother Asier plays in the same position for local Club Portugalete.[12][13]
Career statistics
Club
Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe[16] | Other[17] | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Basconia | 2015–16 | Tercera División | 28 | 1 | – | – | – | 28 | 1 | |||
Bilbao Athletic | 2016–17 | Segunda División B | 33 | 3 | – | – | – | 33 | 3 | |||
Athletic Bilbao | 2017–18 | La Liga | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 36 | 1 | |
2018–19 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 22 | 0 | ||||
2019–20 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 0 | ||||
Total | 65 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 76 | 1 | |||
Career total | 126 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 5 |
Honours
International
Spain U21
References
- ^ a b "Unai Núñez: "Demostré que estoy a la altura de Iñigo y Yeray"" [Unai Núñez: "I showed that I'm up to Iñigo and Yeray"] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
- ^ "Simón, Núñez, Andoni López, Urzelai y Guruzeta ascenderán al Bilbao Athletic" [Simón, Núñez, Andoni López, Urzelai and Guruzeta will ascend to Bilbao Athletic] (in Spanish). La Cantera de Lezama. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
- ^ "Preseason with the premier team". Athletic Bilbao. 2 June 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
- ^ "Premio a la resistencia del Geta" [Prize for Geta's resistance] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ "Renovación de Unai Núñez" [Renewal of Unai Núñez] (in Spanish). Athletic Club. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ "Celta Vigo snatch a draw in Bilbao in stoppage time". Marca. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ "¿Sabes quiénes son los debutantes de la Selección Sub-21?" [Do you know who the debutants of the U21 Team are?] (in Spanish). SEfutbol.com. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
- ^ "OFFICIAL Call for qualifying matches against Romania and Faroe Islands". Royal Spanish Football Federation. 30 August 2019.
- ^ "Spain 4–0 Faroe Islands". Sky Sports. 8 September 2019.
- ^ "Núñez: "Pediré a los compañeros que me firmen la camiseta y la enmarcaré"" [Núñez: "I will ask my teammates to sign my shirt and I will frame it"] (in Spanish). Marca. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ "Abel Núñez profile". BDfutbol. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- ^ "El gen Unai Núñez" [The Unai Núñez gene] (in Spanish). Deia. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ "Asier Núñez profile". La Preferente (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- ^ Unai Nuñez at Athletic Bilbao
- ^ "Unai Núñez". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ Refers to the UEFA Europa League, except where specified.
- ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the Supercopa de España, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup.
- ^ "Spain U21 2–1 Germany U21". 30 June 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
External links
- Unai Nuñez at Athletic Bilbao
- Unai Nuñez at BDFutbol
- Unai Nuñez – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Unai Nuñez at Soccerway
- 1997 births
- Living people
- People from Portugalete
- Sportspeople from Biscay
- Spanish footballers
- Basque footballers
- Association football defenders
- La Liga players
- Segunda División B players
- Tercera División players
- CD Basconia footballers
- Bilbao Athletic footballers
- Spain under-21 international footballers
- Spain international footballers