Aitor Karanka

Aitor Karanka de la Hoz ( Basque and ; born 18 September 1973) is a Spanish football manager and former player.

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 made his senior debut with the reserves of the latter in 1992, competing in the Segunda División.

Karanka was promoted to the main squad by Jupp Heynckes in 1993 following the departure of Rafael Alkorta.

He earned one cap for Spain, in 1995.

Karanka only played once for Spain at senior level, on 26 April 1995 against Armenia in Yerevan (2–0 win) for the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifiers.

He made 14 appearances for the under-21s and was a member of the team that finished runners-up at the 1996 European Championship in a final lost to Italy.

Karanka also represented the nation in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, playing in four matches in an eventual quarter-final exit.

Karanka's first role in management was with the Spanish under-16s national team.

He made his La Liga debut on 7 November in a 1–1 away draw against Celta Vigo (90 minutes played), going on to feature in exactly 100 league matches in his three full seasons before joining the German coach at Real Madrid in 1997 (replacing Alkorta, who had just rejoined Athletic Bilbao).

He missed the vast majority of the 1998–99 campaign due to a heart condition.

Karanka was used mostly as a backup with the capital-based team but appeared in 33 UEFA Champions League matches for them, including the final of the 1999–2000 edition against Valencia (3–0 win).

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.

For 2002–03, Karanka returned to Athletic Bilbao on a three-year contract with a €40 million buyout clause.

He helped the Lions qualify for the UEFA Cup in his second year after finishing in fifth place in the league.

In 2006, Karanka joined Major League Soccer (MLS) club Colorado Rapids in the United States.

In his only season in MLS, he helped Colorado to the Western Conference play-off final, despite having his attempt saved by Darío Sala in the penalty shootout victory over FC Dallas in the semi-finals.

In June 2010, Karanka was appointed assistant manager at former side Real Madrid by newly appointed manager José Mourinho.

Three years later, he left the club following the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti, who brought his own coaching staff.

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.

Born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Karanka played as a youth with hometown club Deportivo Alavés and finished his formation with Basque neighbours Athletic Bilbao.

On 13 November 2013, Karanka was appointed manager of Championship club Middlesbrough, replacing Tony Mowbray.

His first match in charge ended in a 1–2 away defeat against Leeds United, ten days later.

On 25 April 2015, in the club's penultimate game of the season away to Fulham, Karanka sent goalkeeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos forward for an added-time corner kick with the score 3–3.

With the goalkeeper out of position, the opponents scored a winner through Ross McCormack, which sent Watford into the Premier League and jeopardised Middlesbrough's own chances of promotion.

He did qualify his team to the play-off final after a 5–1 aggregate win over Brentford, but they lost the decisive match 0–2 to Norwich City at Wembley Stadium.

On 7 August 2015, Karanka signed a new four-year contract.

Boro were consistently in high positions during the campaign, but on 11 March 2016 he unexpectedly left the training ground after an argument and considered his future at the club.

Responsibilities for the subsequent match, at Charlton Athletic, were handed to his assistant Steve Agnew, but the Spaniard returned to lead the team to the top division after a seven-year absence, as league runners-up.

In 2016–17, Karanka led Middlesbrough to the last eight of the FA Cup, where they were eliminated by Manchester City.

He was sacked on 16 March 2017 with the team three points from top-flight safety and without a league win in the new year (while their defence was the fifth best in the division, their attack was the worst with just 19 goals from 27 matches, and he had disagreements with players, fans and the board).

Club and manager parted ways by mutual consent, as the latter believed he could take the team no further.

He replaced Gary Brazil, who had been acting as caretaker manager following the dismissal of Mark Warburton on 31 December 2017, who had in turn left the side sitting 14th in the league.

His first match in charge saw Forest suffer a 1–0 defeat to Aston Villa, just days after his appointment.

Karanka met his former club Middlesbrough for the first time on 7 April, where Forest were defeated 2–0.

During his first summer transfer window in charge, prior to his first full season as manager, Forest signed João Carvalho from Benfica for £13.2 million, the club's most expensive transfer acquisition.

Forest began the season very well, which originally saw them establish a five-match undefeated run.

They continued their positive form up until December, where they Only Won one out of six matches during the final month of the year, which would ultimately cost Karanka his position.

On 8 January 2018, Karanka returned to the Championship after being appointed as manager of Nottingham Forest.