Iker Guarrotxena

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Guarrotxenaand the second or maternal family name is Vallejo.

Iker Guarrotxena

Personal information
Full name	Iker Guarrotxena Vallejo
Date of birth	(1992-12-06) 6 December 1992 (age 31)
Place of birth	Bilbao, Spain
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Forward, attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team	Goa
Number	34
Youth career
2002–2003	Arenas Getxo
2003–2011	Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2012	Basconia	29	(10)
2012–2016	Bilbao Athletic	92	(22)
2014–2015	→ Tenerife (loan)	20	(1)
2016–2017	Mirandés	40	(9)
2017–2018	Cultural Leonesa	33	(0)
2018–2020	Pogoń Szczecin	30	(5)
2018–2020	Pogoń Szczecin II	4	(2)
2020–2021	Volos	21	(1)
2021	Western United	22	(3)
2021–2022	Logroñés	38	(14)
2022–2023	Goa	20	(11)
2023–2024	Real Murcia	10	(2)
2024	Mumbai City	6	(3)
2024–	Goa	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:22, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

Iker Guarrotxena Vallejo (born 6 December 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Indian Super League club Goa.

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Born in Bilbao, Biscay, Guarrotxena joined Athletic Bilbao's youth setup in 2002, aged nine. Notably, his uncle, Endika Guarrotxena, had also played for Bilbao, having made 113 appearances for the club's senior team from 1980 to 1987. ^[1] Iker made his senior debut with CD Basconia in the 2011–12 season, in the Tercera División. In the 2012 summer, he was promoted to the reserves in the Segunda División B.

SD Tenerife

On 1 August 2014, Guarrotxena moved to Segunda División's CD Tenerife in a season-long loan deal. ^[2] He played his first match as a professional on the 24th, starting in a 0–1 away loss against SD Ponferradina. ^[3]

Return and release from Bilbao

Guarrotxena returned to the B-side for the 2015–16 season, with the club also in the second tier. On 7 June 2016, after suffering relegation, he was released by the Lions. ^[4]

CD Mirandes

On 12 July 2016, Guarrotxena signed a two-year deal with CD Mirandés, also in the second tier. ^[5]

Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa

Roughly one year later, after Mirandes suffered relegation, he moved to fellow league team Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa. ^[6]

Pogoń Szczecin

On 4 August 2018, Guarrotxena moved to Pogoń Szczecin in the Polish Ekstraklasa, signing a three-year deal with the club. ^[7]

Volos N.F.C.

On 2 January 2020, Greek Super League club Volos officially announced the signing of Guarrotxena on a free transfer. ^[8]

Western United FC

On 14 January 2021, A-League club Western United FC officially announced that Guarrotxena had signed on a one-year deal with the club. ^[9]

FC Goa

In June 2022, Guarrotxena moved to Indian Super League, after signing with Peña who managed FC Goa. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 win against Jamshedpur FC. ^[10] On 8 July 2023, Guarrotxena mutually terminated his Goa contract a year before its expiry, citing personal reasons for his early departure. ^[11]

Real Murcia

On June 7, 2023, Real Murcia CF confirmed that Guarrotxena had signed for the club on a one-year deal, until the end of the 2023-24 season. ^[12]

Mumbai City FC

Following the early termination of his Real Murcia CF contract, Guarrotxena was snapped up by Mumbai City FC on a 6-month deal until the end of the 2023-24 season. ^[13] He made his debut for the club off the bench in the 56th minute, at home against Jamshedpur FC in an eventual 2-3 loss. ^[14] Guarrotxena scored his first goal for The Islanders away against East Bengal in the 24th minute of the match, picking up an Alberto Noguera pass and turning to score into the bottom corner. ^[15] In the Islanders' next game at home versus Bengaluru FC, he assisted Vikram Partap Singh for his towering back post header in the 58th minute, allowing him to complete a brace in a match that ended in a 2-0 win. ^[16]

Continuing this rich vein of form, he contributed an assist to Bipin Singh's second goal in the following game away against Chennaiyin FC in another 0-2 win. ^[17] While he failed to put up a goal contribution versus former club FC Goa at home, ^[18] he scored a brilliant brace away versus Punjab FC, scoring the equalizer and the eventual winning goal in a thrilling 2-3 comeback victory. ^[19] However, as he scored the winner, Guarrotxena went down injured, and after attempting to come back onto the pitch, went to ground again and had to be substituted. Mumbai City FC confirmed that the injury was season-ending for Guarrotxena. ^[20]

Personal life

He is the nephew of retired footballer Endika, who also came through the ranks at Athletic Bilbao and won trophies with the club in the 1980s. ^[1]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 March 2024 ^[21]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Basconia	2011–12	Tercera División	29	10	0	0	—		29	10
Bilbao Athletic	2012–13	Segunda División B	24	6	0	0	—		24	6
	2013–14	Segunda División B	34	11	0	0	—		34	11
	2015–16	Segunda División	34	5	0	0	—		34	5
	Total		92	22	0	0	0	0	92	22
Tenerife (loan)	2014–15	Segunda División	20	1	1	0	—		21	1
Mirandés	2016–17	Segunda División	40	9	1	1	—		41	10
Cultural Leonesa	2017–18	Segunda División	33	0	2	0	—		35	0
Pogoń Szczecin	2018–19	Ekstraklasa	24	5	0	0	—		24	5
	2019–20	Ekstraklasa	6	0	2	0	—		8	0
	Total		30	5	2	0	0	0	32	5
Pogoń Szczecin II	2018–19	III liga	2	2	—		—		2	2
	2019–20	III liga	2	0	—		—		2	0
	Total		4	2	—		—		4	2
Volos	2019–20	Super League Greece	14	1	2	2	—		16	3
	2020–21	Super League Greece	7	0	0	0	—		7	0
	Total		21	1	2	2	0	0	23	3
Western United	2020–21	A-League	22	3	0	0	—		22	3
Logroñés	2021–22	Primera División RFEF	38	14	1	0	—		39	14
Goa	2022–23	Indian Super League	20	11	3	2	—		23	13
Real Murcia	2023–24	Primera Federación	10	2	1	0	—		11	2
Mumbai City	2023–24	Indian Super League	6	3	0	0	—		6	3
Goa	2024–25	Indian Super League	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Career total			365	83	13	5	0	0	378	88

1. Includes Copa del Rey, Polish Cup, Greek Cup, Super Cup

Honours

Individual

• Indian Super League Hero of the Month: December 2022 ^[22]

References

1. "Qué fue de..." [What happened to...]. El Correo (in Spanish). 13 May 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
2. "El Tenerife logra la cesión de Iker Guarrotxena" (in Spanish). Marca. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
3. "El gol olímpico de Infante marcó la diferencia" (in Spanish). Marca. 24 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
4. "Leaving Bilbao Athletic". Athletic Bilbao. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
5. "Iker Guarrotxena, primer fichaje del Club Deportivo Mirandés 2016/17" [Iker Guarrotxena, first signing of Club Deportivo Mirandés 2016/17] (in Spanish). CD Mirandés. 12 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
6. "Alta Iker Guarrotxena" [Signing Iker Guarrotxena] (in Spanish). Cultural Leonesa. 18 July 2017. Archived from the original on 22 July 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
7. "Guarrotxena piłkarzem Pogoni!" [Guarrotxena football player Pogoń!] (in Polish). Pogoń Szczecin. 4 August 2018. Archived from the original on 14 March 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
8. "Βόλος: Ανακοίνωσε Γκουαροτσένα και Οικονόμου" (in Greek). sport24.gr. 2 January 2020. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
9. "Iker eager to feature in derby". News.com.au. 14 January 2021. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
10. Mergulhao, Marcus (18 June 2022). "Goa: FC Goa add two more Spanish players as Guarrotxena, Valiente join team meeting". The Times of India. Panaji, Goa. TNN. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
11. "Iker brings early end to his Goa stint due to personal reasons". The Times of India. 8 July 2023. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 5 March 2024.
12. https://twitter.com/realmurciacfsad/status/1677225325158191104 ^{[ bare URL ]}
13. "Mumbai City complete signing of Spanish attacker Iker Guarrotxena". Mumbai City FC. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
14. "Report: Manzorro leads Jamshedpur FC to comeback victory over Mumbai City FC". www.indiansuperleague.com. 4 February 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
15. "Match Report: East Bengal FC 0-1 Mumbai City FC". Mumbai City FC. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
16. "Match Report: Mumbai City FC 2-0 Bengaluru FC". 18 May 2024.
17. "Match Report: Chennaiyin FC 0-2 Mumbai City FC".
18. "Match Report: Mumbai City FC 1-1 FC Goa". 28 December 2024.
19. "Match Report: Punjab FC 2-3 Mumbai City FC".
20. "Injury Update: Ayush Chhikara & Iker Guarrotxena".
21. Iker Guarrotxena at Soccerway
22. ISL Media Team (15 January 2023). "FC Goa's Iker Guarrotxena wins Hero of the Month award for December 2022". indiansuperleague.com. Indian Super League. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.

External links

• Iker Guarrotxena at Soccerway
• Iker Guarrotxena at WorldFootball.net
• Iker Guarrotxena at Athletic Bilbao
• Iker Guarrotxena at BDFutbol