| Ander Barrenetxea | |
| Full Name: | Ander Barrenetxea Muguruza |
| Birth Date: | 27 December 2001 |
| Birth Place: | San Sebastián, Spain |
| Height: | 1.75 m[1] |
| Position: | Forward Left winger |
| Currentclub: | Real Sociedad |
| Clubnumber: | 7 |
| Youthyears1: | 2011–2013 |
| Youthclubs1: | Antiguoko |
| Youthyears2: | 2013–2018 |
| Youthclubs2: | Real Sociedad[2] |
| Years1: | 2018–2019 |
| Clubs1: | Real Sociedad C |
| Caps1: | 4 |
| Goals1: | 1 |
| Years2: | 2019 |
| Clubs2: | Real Sociedad B |
| Caps2: | 8 |
| Goals2: | 1 |
| Years3: | 2018– |
| Clubs3: | Real Sociedad |
| Caps3: | 121 |
| Goals3: | 13 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2018–2019 |
| Nationalteam1: | Spain U18 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 6 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 1 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2019–2020 |
| Nationalteam2: | Spain U19 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2020–2023 |
| Nationalteam3: | Spain U21 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 13 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 1 |
| Club-Update: | 23:24, 18 August 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 8 July 2023 |
Ander Barrenetxea Muguruza (born 27 December 2001), commonly known mononymously as Barrene, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Real Sociedad as a forward or left winger.
Born in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Barrenetxea is a graduate of Real Sociedad's youth setup (he joined the club from Antiguoko in 2013, on the same day as Martín Zubimendi).[2]
In the 2018–19 season, he began to train with the senior team, while registered with the club's C-team playing in the amateur fourth tier. In early December 2018, he renewed his contract until 2025.[3]
On 22 December 2018, Barrenetxea made his professional and La Liga debut as a late substitute for Real Sociedad in a 1–0 home loss against Deportivo Alavés. In so doing, he became the first player born in the 21st century to appear in the competition,[4] [5] the 26th-youngest debutant in the division overall, and the club's youngest since the Spanish Civil War (behind only 15-year-old Pedro Irastorza in 1934).[6] By coincidence, the player who left the field, Juanmi, was even younger when making his bow in the competition eight years earlier.[6]
Barrenetxea's rapid progression to the senior team made him the first youth product to appear at that level without already playing for the club's B-team, known as Sanse, since Antoine Griezmann did likewise in 2009.[7] Two days after his breakthrough, he was back playing with the C-team.[8]
Barrenetxea made his debut for Sanse on 6 January 2019, scoring on his debut in the third tier in a 3–0 home victory over Izarra.[9] He scored his first professional goal for the first team on 12 May, in a 3–1 home victory over Real Madrid.[10]
On 9 June 2019, Barrenetxea was definitely promoted to the main squad of the Txuri-urdin.[11] He played a part in the club's run to the 2020 Copa del Rey final, starting in the earlier rounds (contributing three goals) and coming off the bench in the quarter-final win against Real Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.[12] The final was delayed for almost a year due to COVID-19, with Barrenetxea introduced as a late substitute in the 1–0 Basque derby victory over Athletic Bilbao.
He missed the second half of the 2021–22 season with a thigh injury which required surgery,[13] but recovered successfully after an operation by surgeon Lasse Lempainen in Turku, Finland.[14] By February 2023, he had reached the milestone of 100 appearances for the club, aged 21;[15] at the end of that season, Real qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in a decade.[16]
Barrenetxea was called up for the Spain Under-16 team in 2016[17] and 2017,[18] and appeared for the Under-18s in November 2018.[19] He also featured for the regional Basque Country in the same age groups.[20] [21]
He was selected for the 20-man Spain squad for the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, and came on as an 80th-minute substitute as Spain beat Portugal 2–0 in the final to be crowned winners of the competition.[22]
| Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Real Sociedad C | 2018–19 | Tercera División | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Real Sociedad B | 2018–19 | Segunda División B | 8 | 1 | — | — | — | 8 | 1 | ||||
| Real Sociedad | 2018–19 | La Liga | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20 | 17 | 1 | 7 | 3 | — | — | 24 | 4 | |||||
| 2020–21 | 31 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 3 | |||
| 2021–22 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 25 | 3 | ||||
| 2023–24 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 | — | 39 | 6 | ||||
| 2024–25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 121 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 154 | 18 | |||
| Career total | 133 | 15 | 14 | 3 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 166 | 29 | |||
Real Sociedad
Spain U19
Champion 2019
Spain U21