Aritz Elustondo

Aritz Elustondo
	Elustondo with Real Sociedad in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Aritz Elustondo Irribarria
Date of birth	28 March 1994 (age 31)
Place of birth	Beasain, Spain
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Real Sociedad
Number	6
Youth career
	Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years	Team
2012–2015	Real Sociedad B
2012–2013	→ Beasain (loan)
2015–	Real Sociedad
International career‡
2016	Spain U21
2018–	Basque Country
	* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:28, 16 August 2025 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals as of 24 March 2024

Aritz Elustondo Irribarria (born 28 March 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays mainly as a right-back but also as a central defender for La Liga club Real Sociedad.

Club career

Born in Beasain, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country,^[3] Elustondo graduated from Real Sociedad's youth system. On 13 July 2012, he was loaned to Tercera División club SD Beasain,^[4] and made his senior debut for the latter.

Elustondo returned to his alma mater in June 2013, and was assigned to the reserves in the Segunda División B. He signed a new contract on 31 January 2014, running until 2016.^[5]

On 14 January 2015, Elustondo made his first-team debut, starting in a 2–2 home draw against Villarreal CF in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.^[6] He first appeared in La Liga three days later, in the 0–1 home loss to Rayo Vallecano.^[7]

Elustondo scored his first professional goal on 31 January 2015, but in a 4–1 defeat at Real Madrid.^[8] On 3 January of the following year, after being regularly used by new manager Eusebio Sacristán, he agreed to an extension until 2020.^[9]

Elustondo remained at Anoeta Stadium in the ensuing years, signing new deals in February 2018 (to June 2022)^[10] and August 2020 (to June 2024).^[11]

Career statistics

As of match played 16 August 2025^[12]^[13]^[14]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Copa del Rey		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Real Sociedad B	2013–14	Segunda División B	31	4	—		—		0	0	31	4
	2014–15		24	2	—		—		0	0	24	2
	2015–16		4	0	—		—		0	0	4	0
	Total		59	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	59	6
Real Sociedad	2014–15	La Liga	4	1	2	0	—		—		6	1
	2015–16		31	1	0	0	—		—		31	1
	2016–17		9	0	3	0	—		—		12	0
	2017–18		19	3	0	0	5^[a]	0	—		24	3
	2018–19		27	1	2	0	—		—		29	1
	2019–20		22	0	5^[b]	0	—		—		27	0
	2020–21		23	1	2	0	3^[a]	0	0	0	28	1
	2021–22		30	4	4	0	6^[a]	0	—		40	4
	2022–23		25	0	5	0	6^[a]	1	—		36	1
	2023–24		15	0	5	0	5^[c]	0	—		25	0
	2024–25		22	0	3	0	10^[a]	0	—		35	0
	2025–26		1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	Total		228	11	31	0	35	1	0	0	294	12
Career total			287	17	31	0	35	1	0	0	353	18

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Appearances in UEFA Europa League
^ Includes appearance in 2020 Copa del Rey final (played in 2021)
^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

Real Sociedad

Copa del Rey: 2019–20^[15]^[16]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Aritz Elustondo Irribarria". Real Sociedad. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
^ Aritz Elustondo at AS.com (in Spanish)
^ "Aritz Elustondo: "La Real es el club de mi vida"" [Aritz Elustondo: "Real is the club of my life"] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
^ "Zuhaitz Gurrutxagak eta Aritz Elustondok Beasainen jokatuko dute aurten" [Zuhaitz Gurrutxaga and Aritz Elustondo will play in Beasain this year] (in Basque). Beasain Hitza. 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
^ "Aritz Elustondo renueva hasta 2016" [Aritz Elustondo renews until 2016] (in Spanish). Real Sociedad. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
^ "El Villarreal no pierde el control" [Villarreal do not lose control]. Marca (in Spanish). 14 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
^ S. Ramos, Antonio (17 January 2015). "Manucho castiga a Moyes" [Manucho punishes Moyes]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2015.
^ "Real Madrid smash David Moyes' Real Sociedad". ESPN FC. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
^ Ramajo, Roberto (5 January 2016). "El canterano Aritz Elustondo renueva hasta 2020" [Youth graduate Aritz Elustondo renews until 2020]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 January 2016.
^ "Aritz Elustondo renueva hasta 2022" [Aritz Elustondo renews until 2022]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 5 February 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
^ "La Real renueva a Elustondo hasta 2024" [Real renew with Elustondo until 2024] (in Spanish). Be Soccer. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
^ Aritz Elustondo at BDFutbol
^ Aritz Elustondo at Soccerway
^ Aritz Elustondo at FBref.com
^ Reidy, Paul (3 April 2021). "Athletic Club 0–1 Real Sociedad: result, summary, goal". Diario AS. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
^ Lowe, Sid (3 April 2021). "Real Sociedad beat Athletic to claim Copa del Rey and Basque glory". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2021.