Julen Etxabeguren

Julen Etxabeguren
Personal information
Full name Julen Etxabeguren Leanizbarrutia
Date of birth (1991-03-07) 7 March 1991
Place of birth Madrid, Spain
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Defender
Youth career
Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2014 Real Sociedad B 91 (4)
2014–2015 East Fife 13 (0)
2015–2018 Dundee 41 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:45, 31 December 2017 (UTC)

Julen Etxabeguren Leanizbarrutia (born 7 March 1991) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a defender.

Etxabeguren started his career in his native Basque Country with Real Sociedad, but did not break into their first team. He moved to Scotland in 2014 to study and signed for East Fife. After playing for East Fife in Scottish League Two for six months, he signed a contract with Scottish Premiership side Dundee.

Career

Real Sociedad

After coming through the youth system at Real Sociedad, Etxabeguren progressed to their B-team where he was a regular for four years. In the 2013–14 season, he trained with the first team during pre-season and was named in their Champions League squad.[1] He was then affected by injury.[1] Despite being offered a new contract, he decided to give up football.[1]

East Fife

Etxabeguren moved to Scotland to study for a master's degree in electronic engineering at the University of Edinburgh.[2] When he had nearly concluded that course, he considered resuming his football career.[1] Etxabeguren signed for semi-professional club East Fife, playing in Scottish League Two, in December 2014.[1][3] This was considered a surprising move for a player who had been at a relatively high level. Etxabeguren quickly became a cult hero with the Methil club,[2] with his arrival coinciding with an improvement in the team's form.[1][3]

Dundee

On 2 June 2015, Dundee confirmed that Etxabeguren had signed a three-year deal with the club and would begin pre-season training in July.[4] He became a regular in the side, featuring in 40 Scottish Premiership matches between July 2015 and March 2017 despite needing surgery on an eye injury in January 2016,[5] but then ruptured his achilles tendon in a match against Partick Thistle[2] which resulted in a seven-month layoff. After returning in October 2017,[6] he only made one appearance from the bench[7] before sustaining a dislocated shoulder.[8] Etxabeguren was released by Dundee at the end of the season.[9]

Career statistics

As of match played 30 December 2017
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Sociedad B 2010–11[7] Segunda División B 90———90
2011–12[7] 292———292
2012–13[7] 301———301
2013–14[7] 231———231
Total 914000000914
East Fife 2014–15[10] Scottish League Two 13000002[lower-alpha 1]0150
Dundee 2015–16[11] Scottish Premiership 2302010—260
2016–17[12] 1701041—221
2017–18[13] 100000—10
Total 410305100491
Career total 14543051201555
  1. ↑ Appearances in the League One play-offs

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kennedy, Liam (10 July 2015). "Why Dundee's new Spanish star swapped Real Sociedad for East Fife". Evening Telegraph. DC Thomson. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Julen Etxabeguren". Dundee F.C. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  3. 1 2 "East Fife sign Champions League player". The Scotsman. 6 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Dundee sign up Spanish defender Julen Etxabeguren Leanizbarrutia". BBC Sport. 2 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "Dundee's Julen Etxabeguren thanks medics after eye surgery". The Scotsman. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Julen Etxabeguren faces up to competition for Dundee space after long injury". Evening Telegraph. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Julen Etxabeguren at Soccerway. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  8. ↑ "Dundee boss Neil McCann weighing up whether to hand new signing Steven Caulker his debut in cup tie". The Courier. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "Player update". Dundee FC. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "Games played by Julen Etxabeguren in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Games played by Julen Etxabeguren in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  12. ↑ "Games played by Julen Etxabeguren in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  13. ↑ "Games played by Julen Etxabeguren in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
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