Former Athletic Bilbao and Liverpool defender Mikel San Jose has been awarded a lifetime pension after winning lawsuit against Spain’s Social Security Administration.
Marca report that the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country dismissed an appeal filed by the National Social Security Institute (INSS) and recognized the former Athletic Club midfielder as ‘totally and permanently disabled’.
They considered it proven that he had to retire in 2022 on medical advice as the court validated his history of chronic injuries – cervical osteoarthritis, herniated discs, foraminal stenosis, dorsal discopathy, and lumbar spondylarthrosis.
The ruling thus upheld the lower court’s decision of a lifetime pension, which set the benefit at 55% of a regulatory base of €3,042.82, effective from May 2023, equalling around €1600 per-month.
A Basque native, San Jose started out at Athletic before heading to Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool in 2007.
He returned home in 2009, making 397 appearances and scoring 37 goals, winning the Spanish Supercopa and making the Europa League and Copa del Rey finals.
He later spent the 2020/21 season with Birmingham City in the Championship before another year with Basque side Amorebieta where he ended his career.
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