He moved to England in 2004 at the age of 30, where he represented Championship teams Derby County, Southampton and Queens Park Rangers, retiring in 2008; he played for Spain at under-21 and under-23 levels.

[2] He first appeared with the main squad on 8 November 1992 – on his 19th birthday – against Cádiz in La Liga;[3] he did not become a regular until 1994–95 despite that early debut, playing nearly two full seasons with the reserves in Segunda División B.

[13][14][15][16] In 2005–06, under Phil Brown first and Terry Westley after, the team only finished in 20th position, narrowly avoiding relegation; he ended his stint at the Pride Park Stadium with 22 competitive goals in 96 matches.

[18] In March of the following year, after only a handful of appearances for the Saints,[19][20] he joined Queens Park Rangers on loan for a month,[21] scoring once against Leicester City in a 3–1 away win[22] and subsequently returning to St Mary's Stadium.

[1][24] Southampton released Idiakez at the end of 2007–08, and the player then underwent trials with Major League Soccer team San Jose Earthquakes and Bournemouth,[25] but was not offered a contract.

Idiakez played for Spain at under-21 level,[26] his first cap arriving on 6 June 1995 in a 4–0 victory over Armenia held in Granada for the 1996 UEFA European Championship qualifying phase.

[32] A year later, he joined his former Derby and Southampton boss Burley as assistant manager at Apollon Limassol in the Cypriot First Division, with the pair leaving after only two games.

[33] Idiakez returned to England in 2013, to take up the position of youth development coach at Premier League club Leicester City, managing the under-12 to under-16 age groups.