Mikel San Jose, former Athletic Club and Liverpool player, is leaving football for good at the age of 33. The defender from Navarre stated that his body "can no longer support the professional level" and that he faces his future challenges "with enthusiasm".
Mikel San Jose leaves professional football after a brilliant career at both national and international level. At Athletic Club he played a whopping 304 official matches, where he accumulated numerous matches in prestigious competitions such as the Copa del Rey, the Champions League, the Europa League or the Spanish Super Cup. He won the latter with the Basque club in the 2015-16 season.
The Spanish defender retires after confirming that his body "can no longer support the professional level", but that football has been his life from "that six year old boy who played for Txantrea" to the man he is today.
San Jose wore the shirts of historic clubs such as Liverpool, Birmingham and Amorebieta, which was his last spell as a professional. In addition, the versatile footballer was an international with the Spanish national football team, in which he was part of the squad for Euro 2016 held in France. At youth level, he won the U19 European Championship in 2007 and the U21 European Championship in 2011.
An exemplary career of a footballer who showed involvement and a sense of belonging in every institution he was in from the first minute. Now, Mikel faces his future challenges "with enthusiasm", but always "without giving up dreaming".