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Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz celebrates after scoring. Manu Fernandez
Underdog

A 34-year-old journeyman has scored more goals than Messi, Suarez & Neymar in Spain

It’s a remarkable story for the striker, who turns 35 in February.

JAMIE VARDY IS not the only relatively unheralded striker to take one of Europe’s big leagues by storm this season.

Athletic Bilbao’s Aritz Aduriz is currently making waves in La Liga. His 25 goals in all competitions is superior to Luis Suarez (24), Neymar (20) and Lionel Messi (19), with only Cristiano Ronaldo (27) managing more.

It’s a remarkable story for the striker, who turns 35 on 11 February, as Aduriz appears to have gotten better with age and is arguably in the best form of his career currently.

Currently enjoying his third spell at Bilbao, he also had spells at Valladolid, Mallorca and Valencia, earning his sole cap for Spain during a Euro 2012 qualifier in 2010, coming on as a substitute in their 3-1 victory over Lithuania.

Therefore, Aduriz has enjoyed an undeniably decent but far from outstanding career thus far. He hasn’t always been this prolific, having failed to score during his first stint at Bilbao, before claiming 22 in 82 matches on his return there.

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The veteran forward also managed 23 goals in 69 appearances for Mallorca, as well as 17 in 58 for Valencia.

It is this season that he has thrived, however, comfortably overshadowing his previous goalscoring exploits in recent months.

h/t BBC Sport

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