Football Season Guide

Athletic Bilbao stand alone as the only club in La Liga not to have signed any players this summer. Their Basque only policy makes recruitment that more difficult but this has been a slow summer in the transfer market even by their modest standards. Last season they finished just two points off 4th place but they were never really in the Champions League race, as Villarreal dropped off towards the end of the campaign when a top four finish was virtually assured, allowing the Leones to close the deficit without threatening their position. It was another solid season from the Basque giants, although their ultimate dream is to break into that elite group and become a Champions League regular. They have only qualified for Europe’s most prestigious competition once since the turn of the century. In 2016-17, the Europa League beckons once again and it is a competition in which they have enjoyed relative success in recent years. Club captain and fans’ favourite Carlos Gurpegui retired at the end of last season, but given that his playing time at the new San Mames was limited, the team really doesn’t look much different from the side which finished 5th in La Liga last term. Fringe squad members Unai Lopez and Ibai Gomez have left the club and Kike Sola, Kepa, Jon Aurtenetxe and Guillermo have returned from loan spells but those changes are unlikely to effect the dynamic of Ernesto Valverde’s team. Even so, consistency of personnel can be positive. Unlike the majority of their European rivals – and the minimum target again this season is to qualify for Europe, preferably the Champions League – there won’t be a bedding in period; Ernesto Valverde knows his players and they know his tactics. However, there is an issue that will have to be addressed eventually, and that is the long term replacement for star man Aritz Aduriz. At the age of 35, his legs will eventually become susceptible to weariness. Don’t expect it to happen immediately. Aduriz smashed his own record for goals in a single season by ten last term has he hit a whopping 36 in all competitions. The clamour for Vicente del Bosque to include the Basque hitman in his Spain squad for Euro 2016 became too great to ignore and Aduriz did indeed travel, although his playing time was limited owing to Del Bosque’s preference for Alvaro Morata as the central forward. Aduriz will once again be the main focus of Athletic’s play and he can expect even better service from the attacking flanks as both Inaki Williams and Iker Muniain are a year older and wiser. Williams, in particular, has emerged as one of the most dangerous youngsters in the Primera Division and scored one of the goals of the 2015-16 season against Espanyol among several others. Coming through the ranks you have Ager Aketxe, a multi-talented defensive midfielder who could be one of the emerging stars this term if he is given the opportunity to show what he can do. Tutorship from the likes of Mikel San Jose, Ander Iturraspe and the much improved Benat Etxebarria will help, as long as their presence doesn’t hinder his path to the first team. Any other club’s supporters would be fuming at the lack of transfer activity, but the Basque fans are proud of their own and it doesn’t hurt that the players feel a close bond to their club.