On 14 August 2015, in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup at San Mamés, Mikel San José struck from around 46 metres. The goal opened a 4-0 win over FC Barcelona that put Athletic Club on course for the trophy. Mikel San José Domínguez was born on 30 May 1989 in the Pamplona area of Navarre. He played as a defensive midfielder and as a centre-back. He spent eleven seasons at Athletic, between two spells in England, and retired in 2022.
From Txantrea to Athletic
He started playing at about six with Txantrea, a Pamplona club with ties to Athletic’s youth system. In 2005, at 16, he joined the Bilbao club’s academy, and in 2006-07 he made 27 appearances and scored 5 goals for the Juvenil A side. At youth international level he won the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Championship with Spain and won 16 caps in that age group.
Three years at Liverpool
In August 2007 he joined Liverpool on a three-year contract, a deal worth around €400,000 to Athletic. He never made his first-team debut. He played for the reserves, winning the 2007-08 Premier Reserve League, and trained about twenty times with Rafael Benítez’s squad. The closest he came to playing for the first team was in February 2008, when he was an unused substitute away at Chelsea.
Back in Bilbao
In August 2009 he returned to Athletic on a season-long loan with an option to buy, wearing the number 12. He made his debut in the 2009-10 Europa League group stage against Austria Wien. His La Liga debut came in January 2010, with two minutes in a 2-0 away win over Racing Santander. He finished that season with 30 appearances and 3 goals, and on 19 May 2010 the club signed him permanently on a five-year deal. His first Basque derby, at Anoeta on 5 December 2010, ended in a 2-0 defeat to Real Sociedad: he gave away a penalty and scored an own goal. From then on he moved between centre-back and the holding midfield role.
Finals, the Champions League and the Super Cup
In 2011-12, under Marcelo Bielsa, Athletic reached the finals of the Europa League and the Copa del Rey. San José was an unused substitute in both, and Athletic lost both. He scored 6 goals in 2012-13. On 16 September 2013 he scored Athletic’s first goal at the new San Mamés, in a 3-2 win over Celta Vigo, and on 25 November 2014 he scored his first Champions League goal, away at Shakhtar Donetsk, in a defeat that knocked his side out. The 2014-15 season, his most prolific with 8 goals, ended with a Copa del Rey final defeat to Barcelona. In August 2015 came the 46-metre goal and the Super Cup title. On 24 November 2019 he reached 300 Spanish top-flight appearances in a 2-1 away win at Osasuna. He left the club in the summer of 2020 after 397 competitive appearances and 37 goals.
With Spain
In 2011 he won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship with Spain, having played 8 games and scored once at that level. Vicente del Bosque gave him his senior debut on 4 September 2014 in Paris, in a friendly against France that Spain lost 1-0. He played the full 90 minutes. He was named in the squad for Euro 2016 and won 7 senior caps without scoring: one in 2014, three in 2015 and three in 2016. He also played 7 matches for the Basque Country between 2011 and 2019.
Birmingham, Amorebieta and retirement
On 21 September 2020 he signed a two-year deal with Aitor Karanka’s Birmingham City in the Championship. He made his debut on 20 October away at Norwich City, a 1-0 defeat, and played 28 games without scoring. On 28 May 2021 his contract was terminated by mutual consent at his own request. On 8 July 2021 he joined SD Amorebieta in the Spanish second division. His only goal for the Biscay club came on 2 April 2022, in a 3-1 home win over Ibiza. He finished the season with 28 appearances, and the team were relegated. On 14 August 2022, exactly seven years after his Super Cup goal against Barcelona, he announced his retirement.
