Unai López · Biography

On 31 August 2021, Unai López Cabrera left Athletic Club and signed a three-year deal with Rayo Vallecano, the club where he had already spent the 2017-18 season on loan. The agreement between the two clubs included a series of financial compensations for Athletic and a right of first refusal on any future sale of the player. Born on 30 October 1995 in Gipuzkoa, the midfielder arrived in Vallecas with 93 official appearances and four goals for Athletic’s first team. At Rayo he found the regular football he had never quite secured in Bilbao.

Youth football in Gipuzkoa and Lezama

He began at Antiguoko, the San Sebastián youth club, between 2008 and 2010. He then spent a season in Real Sociedad’s academy before joining Athletic’s Lezama academy in 2011. In 2012-13 he played for CD Basconia in the Spanish fourth tier, making 21 appearances and scoring twice. The following season he stepped up to Bilbao Athletic in Segunda División B. Alongside his club career he represented Spain at youth level: under-16 in 2011, under-18 in 2013 and under-19 between 2013 and 2014.

Champions League debut with Athletic

His first-team debut came on 27 August 2014, in the second leg of the Champions League play-off against Napoli at San Mamés. He replaced Markel Susaeta in the 72nd minute and set up the third goal for Ibai Gómez in a 3-1 win that took Athletic into the group stage. Three days later he made his La Liga debut against Levante (3-0). On 9 September 2014 he made his Spain under-21 debut against Austria (1-1) in qualifying for the 2015 European Championship, and he won two caps at that level. He finished 2014-15 with 24 official appearances. In 2015-16 he went back to Bilbao Athletic, by then in the Spanish second division, and scored the reserve side’s first goal in that division for almost twenty years, in a 2-1 defeat to Elche.

Loans at Leganés and Rayo

On 26 July 2016 Athletic loaned him to newly promoted CD Leganés. He made 24 appearances there and scored twice. The first came on 19 February 2017 at the Camp Nou: moments after coming off the bench, he equalised against FC Barcelona with a low shot from the edge of the box, although a 90th-minute Messi penalty gave the hosts a 2-1 win. On 1 August 2017 he joined Rayo Vallecano on loan in the second division. He played 40 matches and scored three goals in a season that ended with Rayo as second-division champions in 2018 and promoted to La Liga.

Back in Bilbao (2018-2021)

Back at Athletic, he moved between the starting line-up and the bench for three seasons. His first competitive goal for the club arrived on 8 March 2020, a direct free kick in a 4-1 away win at Real Valladolid. On 27 September 2020 he scored both goals in a 2-1 victory over Eibar at Ipurúa, and on 15 February 2021 he struck another free kick in a 4-0 win over Cádiz. He was part of the squad that won the 2021 Spanish Super Cup and that reached, and lost, the Copa del Rey finals of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 editions.

Rayo’s midfielder in La Liga

In 2021-22, his first season after the transfer, he was a regular substitute with around thirty appearances. From 2023-24 he established himself in the starting eleven, first under Francisco Rodríguez and then under Íñigo Pérez. On 25 November 2023 he put Rayo ahead against FC Barcelona in Vallecas with a long-range strike in the 39th minute; the game ended 1-1. A midfielder with a clean strike of the ball, many of his goals for Athletic and Rayo came from direct free kicks or shots from outside the area.

The Conference League final

In 2025-26 he played 13 matches in the UEFA Conference League for Rayo. On 27 May 2026 he started the final against Crystal Palace at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, partnering Óscar Valentín in a double pivot. He had one of Rayo’s first-half chances with a shot from distance, was booked in the 48th minute and was replaced by Pedro Díaz for the last half hour. A Jean-Philippe Mateta goal in the 51st minute gave Crystal Palace the title with a 1-0 win.