Mikel San Jose piled more evidence on top of the Liverpool archive labelled – ‘the one that got away’ – after scoring an early contender for goal of the season in Athletic Bilbao’s Spanish Super Cup win over Barcelona.
The 26-year-old was originally on our books back in 2007, with Rafael Benitez having paid handsomely to bring him to England from Bilbao, where he originally started his career.
However, just like so many academy graduates, he failed to make the grade and was allowed to return to his former club in 2009 – initially on loan, and then on a permanent basis the following year.
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He failed to appear in a single first-team fixture for the Reds, although he was a regular in the reserve side for his two season’s at the club, helping us win the Under-21 title in 2008 alongside the likes of Krisztian Nemeth, Jordy Brouwer and Dani Pacheco.
Since returning to Spain, the powerful centre-back has racked up over 200 appearances for his boyhood club, scored an impressive 28 goals and become a fully fledged international – winning three caps for Vicente del Bosque’s side.
And he topped off his repertoire by scoring this absolute stunner last night, as Bilbao stunned Barcelona to take a commanding 4-0 lead in the first leg of their Super Cup match-up.
Enjoy…