Asier Villalibre
Spanish footballer (born 1997)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Asier Villalibre Molina (born 30 September 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Racing de Santander.
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Villalibre celebrating Alavés' promotion in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Asier Villalibre Molina[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 30 September 1997[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Guernica, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Racing Santander | ||
| Number | 12 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2011–2014 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2015 | Basconia | 45 | (26) |
| 2015–2019 | Bilbao Athletic | 99 | (37) |
| 2016–2024 | Athletic Bilbao | 102 | (11) |
| 2017 | → Numancia (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | → Valladolid (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2018 | → Lorca (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2023 | → Alavés (loan) | 16 | (4) |
| 2024–2026 | Alavés | 16 | (1) |
| 2025–2026 | → Racing Santander (loan) | 31 | (16) |
| 2026– | Racing Santander | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2013–2014 | Spain U17 | 9 | (2) |
| 2014–2015 | Spain U18 | 3 | (1) |
| 2015 | Spain U19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2019– | Basque Country | 3 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 07:37, 5 June 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 24 March 2024 | |||
Club career
Athletic Bilbao
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Born in Guernica, Biscay, Basque Country,[1] Villalibre joined Athletic Bilbao's youth setup in 2011. He made his debut as a senior with the farm team in the 2013–14 season, scoring on his Tercera División debut at the age of 15.[3]
In May 2015, after a further 20 goals for the third side, Villalibre was promoted to the reserves in the Segunda División – he had already represented them the previous campaign in the Segunda División B.[4] He made his professional debut on 24 August, coming on as a second-half substitute for Gorka Santamaría in a 1–0 home loss against Girona FC.[5]
Villalibre scored his first professional goal for Bilbao Athletic on 6 September 2015, closing the 3–1 home win over RCD Mallorca.[6] At 17 years and 341 days, this made him the second-youngest goalscorer for the team when competing in the second division (behind Ander Garitano's 17 years and 198 days in 1986).[7]
On 3 December 2016, Villalibre was called up to the first team for the Basque derby against SD Eibar, with habitual first-choice Aritz Aduriz suspended after being sent off in the previous league match.[8] He made his La Liga debut the following day, replacing Iñaki Williams after 84 minutes and providing the assist for Iker Muniain to score the final goal of a 3–1 victory in injury time.[9]
Villalibre appeared in his first game in European competition on 8 December 2016, contributing another decisive pass in a 1–1 draw away to SK Rapid Wien in the UEFA Europa League group stage after once again coming on from the bench.[10] In May 2017, he was loaned out to CD Numancia for one month.[11]
On 20 August 2017, Villalibre was loaned to second-tier club Real Valladolid for one year.[12] After only netting twice in the cup, his loan was terminated and he subsequently moved to Lorca FC of the same league also in a temporary deal.[13]
Villalibre scored his first league goal for Athletic on 25 January 2020, playing 84 minutes in the 1–1 away draw with RCD Espanyol.[14] The following 17 January, his last-minute equaliser against FC Barcelona earned extra time and an eventual 3–2 win in the 2021 Supercopa de España final; he was also the target of an aggression that earned Lionel Messi the first club red card of his career.[15]
After totalling 35 games and four goals in 2020–21, Villalibre fell down the pecking order the following years,[16] and was loaned to Deportivo Alavés on 30 January 2023.[17] He scored twice during the second-division play-offs to help the club to gain promotion, starting with a 2–0 victory over Eibar;[18] in the second leg of the final at Levante UD, his penalty deep into injury time of extra time was the tie's only goal.[19]
Back with Athletic, on 16 September 2023 Villalibre scored in a 3–0 win over Cádiz CF just a few seconds after replacing Gorka Guruzeta.[20] On 7 December, in his first start of the season, he netted twice against CD Cayón in the second round of the Copa del Rey.[21][22] A month later, he added two to help defeat Eibar in the round of 32 (3–0),[23] repeating the feat in the next stage as the hosts downed Alavés 2–0;[24][25] with these six goals, he equalled Javi Luke's tally from the 1991–92 edition,[26] and finished joint-top scorer of the tournament together with Abdón Prats and Anastasios Douvikas.[27] He did not leave the bench in the final, won against Mallorca on penalties.[28][29]
Alavés
On 15 July 2024, Villalibre returned to Alavés on a four-year contract.[30] He played much less minutes in his second spell, scoring his only goal on 28 August in the 2–1 win at Real Sociedad from a penalty.[31][32]
Racing Santander
In August 2025, Villalibre was loaned to second division side Racing de Santander with an obligatory buyout clause in case of promotion.[33] In his first three appearances for the latter, he scored four times[34] to be named Segunda División Player of the Month.[35]
Villalibre scored 16 goals for Racing, who returned to the top flight as champions; consequently, he signed a permanent deal on 19 May 2026.[36]
International career
Villalibre made his debut for the unofficial Basque Country national team in May 2019, in a 0–0 draw away to Panama for which a small, youthful and inexperienced squad was selected.[37][38]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | Copa del Rey | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Basconia | 2013–14 | Tercera División | 11 | 6 | — | — | — | 11 | 6 | |||
| 2014–15 | Tercera División | 34 | 20 | — | — | — | 34 | 20 | ||||
| Total | 45 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 26 | ||
| Bilbao Athletic | 2014–15 | Segunda División B | 2 | 0 | — | — | 2[a] | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Segunda División | 32 | 3 | — | — | — | 32 | 3 | ||||
| 2016–17 | Segunda División B | 27 | 11 | — | — | — | 27 | 11 | ||||
| 2018–19 | Segunda División B | 38 | 23 | — | — | — | 38 | 23 | ||||
| Total | 99 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 101 | 37 | ||
| Athletic Bilbao | 2016–17 | La Liga | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | La Liga | 19 | 3 | 5[c] | 2 | — | — | 24 | 5 | |||
| 2020–21 | La Liga | 35 | 4 | 6 | 1 | — | 2[d] | 1 | 43 | 6 | ||
| 2021–22 | La Liga | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | La Liga | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | La Liga | 18 | 2 | 6 | 6 | — | — | 24 | 8 | |||
| Total | 102 | 11 | 21 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 127 | 21 | ||
| Numancia (loan) | 2016–17 | Segunda División | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| Valladolid (loan) | 2017–18 | Segunda División | 13 | 0 | 4 | 2 | — | — | 17 | 2 | ||
| Lorca (loan) | 2017–18 | Segunda División | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| Alavés (loan) | 2022–23 | Segunda División | 16 | 4 | — | — | 4[e] | 2 | 20 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 293 | 78 | 25 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 328 | 92 | ||
- Appearances in Segunda División B play-offs
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Includes appearance in 2020 Copa del Rey final (played in 2021)
- Appearances in Supercopa de España
- Appearances in Segunda División play-offs
Honours
Athletic Bilbao
- Copa del Rey: 2023–24;[29] runner-up: 2019–20,[42] 2020–21[43]
- Supercopa de España: 2021[44]
Racing Santander
