Oier Olazábal


Oier Olazábal Paredes, known simply as Oier, is a Spanish footballer who plays for RCD Espanyol as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Barcelona

Born in Irun, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Oier arrived in FC Barcelona's youth academy at the age of 18, from local Real Unión. He spent his first years with the reserves as backup to another youth product, Rubén.
On 2 January 2008, Oier made his debut for the first team, in the 2–2 home draw against CD Alcoyano for the season's Copa del Rey. More than one year after, on 17 May, he appeared for the first time in La Liga as Barça were already champions, in a 1–2 away loss to RCD Mallorca.
For the 2009–10 campaign, after Albert Jorquera left for neighbours Girona FC, Oier was promoted to third-choice. He still continued to appear regularly for the B's, however.

Granada

On 11 July 2014, Oier signed a three-year deal with Granada CF for an undisclosed fee. On 25 August of the following year, he was loaned to fellow top division side Real Sociedad in a season-long deal.

Levante

On 29 January 2017, Oier was loaned to Levante UD for the rest of the campaign with the option to buy in event of promotion; he replaced Álex Remiro, whose own temporary switch from Athletic Bilbao had been curtailed. Manager Juan Ramón López Muñiz began playing him in place of Raúl Fernández in the final matches, including in the goalless draw at CD Tenerife on 20 May that saw the Granotas crowned Segunda División champions.
In the top flight, Oier took the starting place from Fernández, and signed a new deal in June 2018 to last until 2021, with a further year as an option.

Espanyol

Having only been used in cup games due to Paco López' preference for Aitor Fernández, Oier left for RCD Espanyol on 31 January 2020 for a €1.5 million fee, signing until June 2022 with the option of another season after that. Due to Diego López' suspension, he debuted on 13 June as the 70th goalkeeper in the club's history in a 2–0 home win over Deportivo Alavés.

Club statistics