Yuri Berchiche Signs New One-Year Contract with Athletic Club
Yuri Berchiche new contract Athletic Club is agreed.
Athletic Club left-back Yuri Berchiche has extended his contract by one year, extending his stay at the club to a ninth season.
The veteran, who is 36 years old, has played more than 200 La Liga matches with Athletic and is fourth all-time on the club’s list of top defenders in the Spanish top flight with 223 appearances. Oscar de Marcos, Andoni Iraola and Mikel Balenziaga are the ones who have appeared more.
Having arrived from Paris Saint-Germain in 2018, Berchiche has been a key figure for the Basque club. He has contributed to Athletic’s three Copa del Rey finals, coming up with a runner-up result in 2020 and 2021 and winning the trophy in 2024.
Berchiche said the years at Athletic have been the best of his entire sports career and of his life in general to the club’s media. This is an honour to continue playing with this shirt.
Director of football Mikel Gonzalez added: “This is a wonderful news for the club; with his performance and experience he is an irreplaceable player in this squad. He has demonstrated his professionalism and dedication to the club in a complicated season and I’m sure he will continue to bring great things in the new project.
The Basque side are getting ready for their first year under new head coach Edin Terzic after the dismissal of Ernesto Valverde after finishing 12th in La Liga last season.
From Tottenham to Paris: Berchiche’s Long Road
Yuri Berchiche’s journey to becoming an Athletic Club stalwart was anything but straightforward. Born on 10 February 1990, the left-back left the Basque Country as a teenager to join Tottenham Hotspur’s academy in 2007, and even spent time on loan at Cheltenham Town in England’s lower leagues before returning to Spain.
Spells with Real Valladolid and Real Unión followed, and it was at Eibar where his career truly took off. Loaned to the small Basque club on two occasions, Berchiche helped Eibar climb into La Liga, lifting the Segunda División title in the 2013/14 season and proving he belonged in the top flight.
Real Sociedad brought him back in 2014, and he soon established himself as their first-choice left-back, stepping into the shoes of the long-serving Alberto de la Bella. Three consistent seasons in San Sebastián, featuring 88 appearances, earned him a move to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017.
At PSG, Berchiche was part of a historic campaign. The French giants swept the domestic treble in 2017/18, winning Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue, along with the Trophée des Champions. He made 32 appearances in all competitions that season, gaining experience at the very highest level of European football.
Athletic Club moved to bring him home in the summer of 2018, and he has been a fixture at San Mamés ever since, racking up more than 280 appearances for the club in all competitions across eight seasons.
Yuri Berchiche new contract Athletic Club: Why Athletic Keep Trusting Him
At 36, Berchiche is among the most senior players in the squad, yet the club’s faith in him has never wavered. The numbers explain why: his 223 La Liga appearances for Athletic put him fourth on the club’s all-time list for defenders in the competition, behind only Oscar de Marcos, Andoni Iraola and Mikel Balenziaga.
He has also been present for the biggest nights of the modern era. Berchiche featured in three Copa del Rey finals, finishing as runner-up in 2020 and 2021 before finally lifting the trophy in 2024, the club’s first Copa triumph in four decades. He also won the Supercopa de España in 2021.
On the pitch, his game has aged gracefully. He remains strong in the air, positions himself well against quick wingers and rarely gets beaten one against one. His reading of danger, built over nearly 300 top-flight appearances, allows him to compensate for any loss of pace.
Off the pitch, his professionalism sets the standard. Director of football Mikel Gonzalez called him “irreplaceable”, and that word carries real weight at a club like Athletic, where every player must fit a unique philosophy and experienced leaders are almost impossible to replace.
For the younger full-backs coming through the academy, training every day alongside a player who has won league titles in France and a Copa del Rey with Athletic is an education in itself.
What the New Season Holds
Athletic are beginning a new project this season, and Berchiche’s role within it will be fascinating to watch. Even if his minutes are managed carefully at 36, his influence in the dressing room and on the training pitch remains enormous.
The one-year extension suggests the club see him as a bridge between eras: a trusted veteran who can guide the next generation of defenders while still delivering reliable performances whenever he is called upon.
There will be no shortage of motivation. Having described his years at Athletic as the best of his career and his life, Berchiche will want his ninth season in Bilbao to be remembered for the right reasons.
If this proves to be his final campaign, he will leave as one of the great full-backs of the club’s modern history. If not, Athletic will have their irreplaceable leader for a little longer.
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