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Sabin Merino
	Merino with Athletic Bilbao in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Sabin Merino Zuloaga
Date of birth	4 January 1992 (age 33)
Place of birth	Urduliz, Spain
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Winger, striker, second striker
Youth career
2001–2002	Danok Bat
2002–2005	Athletic Bilbao
2005–2008	Danok Bat
2008–2009	Javanon
2009–2011	Danok Bat
Senior career*
Years	Team
2011–2013	Basconia
2012–2015	Bilbao Athletic
2015–2019	Athletic Bilbao
2018–2019	→ Leganés (loan)
2019–2020	Leganés
2020	Deportivo La Coruña
2020–2022	Leganés
2022–2024	Zaragoza
2022–2023	→ Atlético San Luis (loan)
2023–2024	→ Racing Ferrol (loan)
2025-	Deportivo Saprissa
International career
2016	Basque Country
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 January 2025

Sabin Merino Zuloaga (Basque: [s̺aβin meɾino]; Spanish: [saˈβim meˈɾino]; born 4 January 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays mainly as a left winger and sometimes as a striker.

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Born in Urduliz, Biscay, Basque Country, Merino graduated from Danok Bat CF's youth academy after spells at Athletic Bilbao's Lezama and American team Javanon FC.^[1] In the summer of 2011 he returned to the Lions, and made his debut as a senior with the farm team in Tercera División.^[2]

On 21 June 2013, Merino was promoted to the reserves in the Segunda División B.^[3] On 29 June 2015, after scoring a career-best 18 goals during the season as they returned to Segunda División after a 19-year absence,^[4] he was promoted to the main squad in La Liga.^[5]

Merino made his official debut with the first team on 6 August 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute for Javier Eraso in a 0–0 away draw against Inter Baku PIK in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.^[6] After the departure of Guillermo he was finally granted a place in the roster, being assigned #25.^[7]

Merino started in the 4–0 home rout of FC Barcelona in the Supercopa de España on 14 August 2015 as a left winger, providing the assist for Aritz Aduriz's second goal.^[8] He scored his first professional goal on 20 August, the first in a 3–2 Europa League playoff round loss at MŠK Žilina.^[9]

Merino scored his first goal in the Spanish top flight on 23 September 2015, in a 1–2 home defeat against Real Madrid.^[10]

Leganés

On 31 August 2018, Merino was loaned to CD Leganés in the same league for one year.^[11] The following May, after Athletic released him, he automatically joined the Madrid club on a permanent one-year deal.^[12]

Deportivo

Merino signed for Deportivo de La Coruña of Segunda División on 14 January 2020, after agreeing to a two-and-a-half-year contract.^[13] He scored four times in his first four matches with the club, surpassing previous holder Bebeto who held the distinction since 1992;^[14] this feat earned him January's Segunda División Player of the Month award.^[15]

Return to Leganés

On 17 August 2020, after Dépor's relegation, Merino returned to Leganés.^[16] On 31 January 2022, he left as a free agent.^[17]

Zaragoza

On 31 January 2022, Merino joined fellow second-tier side Real Zaragoza on a three-and-a-half-year deal.^[18] In July, he was loaned to Atlético San Luis of the Liga MX.^[19]

On 25 July 2023, Merino went on loan to Racing de Ferrol for the upcoming season.^[20] In August of the following year, he terminated his contract with Zaragoza.^[21]

International career

Merino was never capped by Spain at any level. He did feature for the unofficial Basque Country regional team.^[22]

Honours

Athletic Bilbao

Supercopa de España: 2015^[8]

Individual

Segunda División Player of the Month: January 2020^[15]

References

^ Martín, Asís (4 December 2013). "El cachorro Sabin Merino es seguido por varios clubes ingleses" [Pup Sabin Merino is tracked by several English clubs] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
^ "La apuesta del Athletic es Sabin Merino" [Athletic's bet is Sabin Merino]. Deia (in Spanish). 16 June 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
^ "Bilbao Athletic pre-season". Athletic Bilbao. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
^ García, Alberto (29 June 2015). "Sabin Merino: El capitán de récord que pudo ser también héroe" [Sabin Merino: the record captain who could also have been the hero]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2015.
^ "Dismissals in Bilbao Athletic". Athletic Bilbao. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
^ Cuenca, Nika (30 July 2015). "Eraso arranca con el pie derecho en Bilbao" [Eraso starts off on the right foot in Bilbao]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2015.
^ "Williams hereda el '15' de Iraola y Bóveda el '2' de Toquero" [Williams inherits the '15' from Iraola and Bóveda the '2' from Toquero]. Marca (in Spanish). 13 August 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
^ ^a ^b Estepa, Javier (14 August 2015). "Aduriz echa al Barça a los leones" [Aduriz throws Barça to the lions]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2015.
^ Ballesteros, Cristian (20 August 2015). "El Athletic se deja sorprender por el Zilina" [Athletic let themselves be surprised by Zilina]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 August 2015.
^ "Ath Bilbao 1–2 Real Madrid". BBC Sport. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
^ "El extremo Sabin Merino, cedido al C.D. Leganés para la presente temporada" [Winger Sabin Merino, loaned to C.D. Leganés for the current season] (in Spanish). CD Leganés. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
^ Martín, Francisco Javier (8 May 2019). "El Athletic libera a Merino, que seguirá en el Leganés hasta 2020" [Athletic release Merino, who will continue at Leganés until 2020]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 October 2019.
^ "New 2019–2020 Deportivo player! Sabin Merino". Deportivo La Coruña. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
^ Fuentes, Fran (2 February 2020). "Sabin Merino supera el hito de Bebeto" [Sabin Merino surpasses Bebeto's milestone] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Merino named LaLiga SmartBank Player of the Month for January". La Liga. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
^ "Sabin Merino will be part of C.D Leganés again for the 2020/21 season". CD Leganés. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
^ "El C.D. Leganés y Sabin Merino no continuarán juntos" [C.D. Leganés and Sabin Merino will not continue together] (in Spanish). CD Leganés. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
^ "El Real Zaragoza refuerza su ataque con Sabin Merino" [Real Zaragoza bolster their attack with Sabin Merino] (in Spanish). Real Zaragoza. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
^ R. Bravo, Chema (2 July 2022). "El Zaragoza hace oficial la cesión de Sabin Merino" [Zaragoza confirm Sabin Merino loan]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 July 2023.
^ "Acuerdo con el Racing de Ferrol para la cesión de Sabin Merino" [Agreement with Racing de Ferrol for the loan of Sabin Merino] (in Spanish). Real Zaragoza. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
^ Marín, Javier (30 August 2024). "Oficial: Sabin Merino rescinde el año que le restaba de contrato" [Official: Sabin Merino rescinds the remaining year of his contract]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ "Catalunya 0–1 Euskal Selekzioa" [Catalonia 0–1 Basque XI] (in Spanish). Basque Football Federation. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2017.