Racing Santander confirmed the deal on Monday afternoon, with both clubs announcing agreement for the transfer of the 25-year-old goalkeeper, who has signed a contract running until June 2031. The move nets Athletic around €5 million, a fee close to what the Bilbao club recently banked for Unai Gómez's switch to Udinese.
As with that deal, Athletic Club have inserted a right of first refusal into the agreement, along with clauses covering future performance-related income and any eventual resale.
The club marked the occasion with a presentation video shot at the stadium, in which the goalkeeper addressed supporters and pretended to bolt one of the goals shut, a nod to his new job protecting Racing's net. He will wear the number 13 shirt at Racing, the same number he carried at San Mamés, where he lifted the Copa del Rey under that shirt in 2024, starting in goal after Ernesto Valverde opted to rotate his goalkeepers through that campaign.
The move ends a spell in which Agirrezabala never quite established himself as first choice at Athletic. He made 65 official appearances for the Basque club and spent last season on loan at Valencia, with an underage Spain international background behind him. His contract in Bilbao ran to 2027, with the option for Athletic to extend it a further two years, but it had been clear since the start of the summer that his path forward did not run through San Mamés, where Unai Simón remains the undisputed number one.
Racing were among the first suitors to emerge, though the move nearly stalled. Chema Aragón, Racing's sporting director, said publicly last weekend that although Agirrezabala remained his top target for the goalkeeping position, "our sights are already set on other targets because the options Athletic are proposing are unworkable."
That public pressure proved decisive. Talks resumed almost immediately, and by Monday the operation was already well advanced, pending only Agirrezabala's medical. The goalkeeper spent Monday morning at Athletic's Lezama training complex before travelling to Santander to complete the formalities of his move.
The signing gives Racing a goalkeeper with genuine top-flight and continental pedigree as the Cantabrian club prepares for its first season back in LaLiga in 14 years.
Beyond his Copa del Rey heroics, Agirrezabala also featured in a run to the Europa League semi-finals that included home wins over Real Madrid and Barcelona. He arrives with a far clearer path to regular football than he had at Bilbao or, during his loan, at Valencia, where injuries repeatedly disrupted his season.