Six Minutes at San Mames, Then a Free Transfer: Endika Bujan's Reset at Racing de Ferrol (2026)

Most academy players never get a single minute in LaLiga. Endika Bujan got six. On 8 February 2025 he came off the bench at San Mames in a 3-0 win over Girona, became one of the 650 players ever to appear for Athletic Club in an official game, and never played for the first team again.

That sounds like a sad story. It isn't, or at least not yet. Bujan left Athletic when his contract expired on 30 June 2026 and signed for Racing Club de Ferrol in July. He is 23, he plays in the Spanish third tier, and the next nine months will tell us far more about him than that February cameo ever could.

Bujan in Brief

Barakaldo Was the Real Breakthrough

If you want the best evidence for Bujan as a footballer, skip the Athletic years and look at his hometown club. He was in Barakaldo's academy from 2011 to 2015, moved on to Danok Bat, the Bilbao nursery that also produced Unai Gomez, and came back to Barakaldo on a free in June 2022.

What followed was a genuinely good two seasons. Roughly 60 senior appearances, 11 goals, and two promotions in a row that lifted the club from the Tercera Federacion to the Primera Federacion. For a teenager playing men's football, that is a strong return, and it is what earned him the move to Bilbao Athletic, announced in February 2024 and completed that July. It remains the only club to club transfer on his record.

One Cameo Against Girona

With Athletic's reserves he made more than 40 appearances across 2024/25 and 2025/26, with a handful of goals. Databases disagree on the exact count, landing somewhere between 41 and 47.

The first team called him up several times. He sat on the bench for LaLiga games against Espanyol, Alaves, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid without getting on. Then came Girona, where he and Maroan Sannadi both made their debuts, becoming the 649th and 650th players in the club's official history. It's a nice line for a pub quiz. It is also, so far, the whole of his top flight career.

He has no senior or youth international caps on record.

A Broken Back at the Wrong Moment

Context matters here. In October 2024, a few months into his first season with the reserves, Bujan fractured his back and was out for around two months. For a player trying to convince a club like Athletic, that is close to the worst possible timing. The quieter scoring numbers for the B team make more sense once you factor it in.

Leaving at 23 is also normal. Spanish reserve sides are built for players in their late teens and early twenties, and Bujan was one of five players released from Athletic's reserve and Basconia squads at the end of last season. The club confirmed the departures in May. Routine, not a verdict.

Leaving on a Free, Arriving on a Free

Ferrol paid nothing for him. His Athletic deal ran out, he became a free agent, and they signed him for exactly what he does best: pace and one on one running down the flanks. It is the second free move of his career after the Barakaldo return in 2022.

His market value sits at around 300,000 euros, which is a sensible figure for a 23 year old winger with third tier minutes and one LaLiga cameo. Remember that this is a valuation of him as a footballing asset, not a measure of what he owns. The Primera Federacion is closely watched by Segunda Division scouts, so a season of regular starts and goals could move that number a long way. A flat season and it drifts as he passes 24.

Counting the Money Carefully

Icon Polls estimates Endika Bujan's net worth at $500,000 to $1 million, and realistically towards the lower end of that range.

Here's why. Bujan has never earned LaLiga money. A six minute appearance does not come with a first team contract, and his senior football has been spent in Spain's third and fourth tiers plus two seasons with a reserve side. Wages at that level are professional but ordinary, usually in the tens of thousands of euros a year. Neither Athletic nor Ferrol publish salaries, and no figure for his pay has ever been made public, so any site quoting an exact weekly wage is guessing. There are no endorsement deals on record either.

The FC 26 Card Is Out of Date

In EA FC 26 he is rated 62 overall with 74 potential, a left footed right winger with 3 star skill moves, a 2 star weak foot and medium/medium work rates. Those numbers are identical to FC 25, so the game has not reacted to anything he did last season.

For career mode, he is a cheap development winger who can become a squad player for a mid table side, with pace and dribbling doing the work. The bigger catch: the database still lists him at Athletic Club, and some entries show his age as 21. Don't expect to find him at Ferrol.

What Ferrol Needs to See

Bujan has already done something most academy players never manage, going from a fourth tier side to a LaLiga club's books and onto the pitch at San Mames. What he hasn't done is turn that into a settled career at a good level. Ferrol gives him minutes, a clear role and a shop window. A small, quick left footer cutting in from the right is exactly the kind of player who can catch a Segunda Division club's eye in this league.

Off the pitch, he keeps his private life private. There is no public information about a partner and he has never discussed one, so we won't speculate. The documented family link is his cousin, the footballer Unai Bujan.

Think the next breakout is out there somewhere in the lower leagues? Make your case for the game's true greats in our vote for the best football players of all time.

Short Answers

How old is Endika Bujan?

He is 23, born on 16 January 2003, and turns 24 in January 2027. Pages showing 21 or 22 are stale.

How much did Racing de Ferrol pay for him?

Nothing. He joined as a free agent after his Athletic contract expired on 30 June 2026.

How many times did he play for Athletic's first team?

Once, for about six minutes in a 3-0 LaLiga win over Girona on 8 February 2025.