Mikel Rico · Biography

On 31 October 2011, in the 90th minute of Sevilla against Granada at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, a midfielder from Biscay took a headed knock-down from Odion Ighalo and drove it in from the edge of the box. Sevilla had scored in the first minute through Manu del Moral and Alexandre Geijo had equalised late on. That 2-1 away win brought the first top-flight goal of Mikel Rico Moreno, born on 4 November 1984 in Biscay, a box-to-box central midfielder who was in his first La Liga season after almost a decade in the Spanish third and second tiers.

Youth football in Biscay

As a boy he played for Padura and Danok Bat, two grassroots clubs in the Bilbao area. In 2000 he joined the youth ranks of CD Basconia, Athletic Club’s farm team, where he spent three seasons. On 11 April 2001, under coach José Luis Mendilibar, he played the closing minutes of a game for Basconia’s senior side, his only appearance at that level. He never made the step up to Lezama. In 2003 he moved to UB Conquense, first to the reserve team and from 2004 to the first team in Segunda División B.

From Cuenca to Huesca

After a season as a regular in Cuenca, Polideportivo Ejido signed him in 2005 and loaned him straight back to Conquense for 2005-06, when he scored nine league goals. He made his Ejido debut in the Spanish second division the following season. In 2007-08 he went on loan to SD Huesca and was part of the side that won promotion to the second division through the play-offs. He returned to Ejido for 2008-09 and rejoined Huesca permanently in 2009. On 19 June 2010 he scored the only goal of a 1-0 away win over Celta de Vigo, a result that helped Huesca avoid relegation.

Granada and La Liga

On 31 August 2010 Granada CF paid €600,000 for him and handed him a four-year contract. In his first season the Andalusian club won promotion to La Liga through the play-offs, 35 years after their last spell in the top flight. Rico made his debut in the division on 27 August 2011, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1-0 home defeat to Real Betis in the Andalusian derby. The goal at the Pizjuán followed two months later. He spent three seasons at Los Cármenes as a fixture in midfield, with more than a hundred appearances.

Six seasons at Athletic Club

In late August 2013 he completed the journey he had not made as a youngster, signing a three-year deal with Athletic Club. He made his debut on 1 September 2013 at the Santiago Bernabéu, playing the first half of a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid. His first goal for the club came on 6 October 2013 in a 1-1 draw with Valencia. In 2014-15 he played in every one of Athletic’s Champions League matches and started the 2015 Copa del Rey final, won by FC Barcelona. That August he was in the squad that lifted the 2015 Supercopa de España against Barcelona, the club’s first trophy in 31 years. In February 2018 he scored in the Europa League against Spartak Moscow. On 24 April 2019 he reached 200 La Liga appearances, and that spring he announced he would leave when his contract expired; San Mamés paid tribute to him at the final home game.

Back to Huesca and a finish in Cartagena

On 7 July 2019 he returned to SD Huesca on a free transfer. In 2019-20 the Aragonese club won the Spanish second division and went back up to La Liga, with Rico a regular in the starting line-up. He stayed at El Alcoraz until 2022, making more than a hundred league appearances in that second spell. On 24 June 2022 he joined FC Cartagena in the second tier, where he played two seasons. On 24 May 2024 he announced his retirement, effective at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, having played more than 600 league games as a professional.

Playing style, international football and coaching

He operated as a box-to-box midfielder and at times as a holding player, with a big physical workload and a habit of arriving late in the box. He was never capped by Spain at any level; for the unofficial Basque Country team he made four appearances between 2011 and 2018. In October 2025 he joined Real Oviedo, then in La Liga, as assistant coach to Luis Carrión.