Fact File: Iñigo Idiakez

With popular former Derby County midfielder Iñigo Idiakez re-joining Derby County as part of Nigel Pearson’s coaching staff, dcfc.co.uk has taken a look back at the Spaniard’s career to date…

FACT FILE

Born in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, in 1973, Iñigo Idiakez’s journey into football began in the youth set-up at Real Sociedad.After three years honing his skills, Iñigo stepped up to make his senior debut for Sociedad’s B team alongside his older brother Imanol in 1992 and made such an impression that he made his full debut for the main squad in the same year on the day of his 19th birthday.Despite the breakthrough, Idiakez had to wait until the 1994/95 season to be a consistent figure in the main squad at Sociedad as he continued to develop himself with the B squad over the next two years.From there, though, Idiakez appeared in eight consecutive La Liga campaigns with the Txuriurdin, amassing nearly 300 competitive appearances in the process and scoring 33 goals.At the end of the 2001/02 season, having seen his 10-year association with Sociedad come to an end, Idiakez moved on to pastures new and signed with Real Oviedo, who had just been relegated to Segunda División – the second tier of Spanish football.Facing deep financial concerns, Idiakez stayed with the club for a year, departing following their second successive relegation.The 2003/04 season saw the creative midfielder link up with Madrid-based outfit Rayo Vallecano, but again his stay was brief as they too suffered the same fate as Oviedo and were relegated to the third tier.A new dawn in Idiakez’s career was on the horizon. Available for a free transfer, he crossed the Channel to England after George Burley, the then Derby County Manager, moved to bring him to the club.From there, he immediately proved himself to be one of the club’s best-ever foreign imports, finishing his debut campaign with the Rams as the Player of the Year, scoring a career best 11 goals as Derby finished fourth before narrowly missing out on promotion via the play-offs.His second season proved just as fruitful on a personal basis as he added another 11 goals in 44 appearances with the club, but could not help the Rams from finishing 20th as they narrowly staved off relegation at the end of 2006.From there, his time with Derby came to an end as Burley, now at Southampton, moved to bring the Spaniard to south-coast on Transfer Deadline Day.Unable to establish himself at the Saints, Idiakez moved to Queens Park Rangers briefly on loan, before returning to St Mary’s – with his final kick, somewhat poignantly, proving hugely decisive for his old employers, Derby, as his penalty in Play-Off Semi-Final Second-Leg shootout went over the crossbar to send the Rams to Wembley.His final season as a professional footballer saw him make a further 23 appearances for Southampton before he was released at the end of 2007/08 campaign.From there, he completed his coaching qualifications, earned the UEFA Pro Licence and in 2012 he had his first spell as a Manager, assisting former Derby and Southampton boss Burley at Apollon Limassol.Idiakez has since being working as the Lead Youth Development Coach with the reigning Premier League Champions Leicester City.

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

During the high of his time at Real Sociedad, Idiakez went on to feature for Spain’s Under 21 outfit and participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, in which he appeared on three occasions for the quarter-finalists.He was also part of the squad that finished as runners-up in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship’s in the same year and featured in the competition’s finale as Italy, inspired one Francesco Totti, lifted their third title.Tweets by @ dcfcofficial