Aitor Karanka
Aitor Karanka de la Hoz (Basque and Spanish pronunciation: [ajˈtoɾ kaˈɾaŋka]; born 18 September 1973) is a Spanish football manager and former player.
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Karanka in 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Aitor Karanka de la Hoz | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 18 September 1973 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Vitoria, Spain | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defender | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Corazonistas | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alavés | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1992 | Athletic Bilbao | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Athletic Club B | 53 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1997 | Athletic Bilbao | 118 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2002 | Real Madrid | 93 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Athletic Bilbao | 64 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Colorado Rapids | 28 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 356 | (6) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1996 | Spain U21 | 14 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Spain U23 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Spain | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1994–2004 | Basque Country | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Spain U16 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2017 | Middlesbrough | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Nottingham Forest | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Birmingham City | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Granada | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
Save for a brief spell in the United States at age 32, Karanka played solely in Spain for Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid, appearing in 275 La Liga matches over 13 seasons and winning six honours with the latter. He earned one cap for Spain, in 1995.
Karanka started his managerial career in the late 2000s, working as assistant manager at Real Madrid during José Mourinho's tenure as manager from 2010 to 2013. He was appointed manager of EFL Championship club Middlesbrough in 2013, guiding them to promotion to the Premier League in 2016 before being dismissed the following year. He then managed Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City in the Championship, before brief top-flight spells at Granada in Spain and Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Premier League.