Canales is back after he left the club as a teenage prodigy, with his hometown club announcing the signing of the midfielder on a two-year contract running until June 2028 to coincide with their promotion back to the top flight.
Canales was born in Santander on 16 February 1991 and came through Racing's academy at the Instalaciones Nando Yosu, making his professional debut at seventeen in the Copa de la UEFA against Finnish club FC Honka in September 2008.
He went on to make thirty-nine appearances for Racing, scoring seven goals and providing six assists, before being sold to Real Madrid in 2010.
What followed was a career that took him through the main stages of Spanish football. After Madrid he played for Valencia, Real Sociedad and Real Betis, where he was part of the Copa del Rey-winning side in 2022 — a trophy he had also won at the Bernabéu.
He accumulated 384 Primera División appearances, more than forty in European competition, forty-eight in the Copa del Rey, and also spent three seasons at Monterrey in Mexico, making close to a hundred league appearances in the Liga MX.
Canales earned eleven caps for the senior Spain national team, having also represented the country from under-17 to under-20 level, winning three European youth championships and a World Youth Championship along the way.
The 34 year-old's return to the Sardinero is a homecoming with clear emotional weight, and Racing will hope his Primera División experience can help ease their transition back to the top tier.