Aitor Paredes makes Athletic Club debut

Aitor Paredes became the 634th Lion to make his first-team debut for Athletic Club. The defender got his first appearance during Monday's 0-4 LaLiga win over Cadiz CF, replacing Iñigo Lekue in the 88th minute.

The Bilbaino becomes the second player to make a debut under Ernesto Valverde this season, following in the footsteps of Malcom Adu Ares, who got his first senior minutes against RCD Mallorca on Matchday 1.

"I'm very grateful and I'm proud of the journey to get here," Paredes said in his post-match interview after the match in Cádiz.

"I want to thank the gaffer for this opportunity and I'll keep fighting for more moments like this."

The centre-back, who made his debut at left-back, has been at Athletic since 2010. He started with the Under-11s and has turned out for all of the different age groups in the Lezama academy.

In 2018/19 he played for Basconia and in 2019/20 he split his time between Basconia and Bilbao Athletic. Since 2020/21 he has been a key player for the B team.