Mariana, Pinedo and Landaluze will join the first team

Mariana Cerro, Clara Pinedo and Naia Landaluze have been promoted to the Athletic Club Women first team. All three, who have already previously made their debuts in Primera Iberdrola, will be fully-fledged members of Iraia Iturregi’s squad for the 2022/23 campaign.

Mariana Cerro (22-05-2000) is the player with most top-flight experience out of the three. She made her debut on April 4, 2021 under Iturregi. Last season she was in full training with the first team. Since her debut, she has played a total of 17 games in the elite and last season she scored with four goals in 15 starts for the second team.

Clara Pinedo (09-09-2003) also made her debut for Iturregi on June 6, 2021 against Levante UD. The Bilbao-born midfielder had more opportunities last season and took part in eight Primera Iberdrola and Copa de la Reina matches, six of those appearances coming as a starter.

In addition, the young player managed to score two goals, one in the Copa against Racing and another in the league against Villarreal. She has also has just won the European Under-19 championship with the Spanish national team and will participate in this August’s Under-20 World Cup, as will teammates Maite Zubieta and Ane Elexpuru.

Naia Landaluze (25-09-2000) has also already made the leap to the First Division. In her case, she made her debut on June 26, 2021 in a match against FC Barcelona. In  2021/22 season she did not make a first team appearances, but she was a key player in the B team that staved off relegation from the Second Division.

She was involved in a total of 27 games, only being a substitute in three of them. She is a very fast player and with good aerial ability, as proved by her four goals last term.

Pre-season with the first team

First team medicals will begin Wednesday July 20, with Iturregi set to lead the first training session of the season at Lezama on Friday morning.

For yet another year, some youth players will take part in the pre-season with the Lionesses, including: Ane Elexpuru, Maite Zubieta, Amaia Martínez, Paula Esteban, Alejandra Estefanía, Sara Ortega and Jone Amezaga.

Pinedo, Elexpuru and Zubieta will train with the Spanish Under-20 team on July 20 as they prepare for the World Cup, which kicks off in Costa Rica on August 10. Therefore they will return to Bilbao and join up with their Athletic Club team-mates at a later date.