‘Every minor detail – execute them’: The striker’s path from gurney to goals with Athletic
The debut appearance the Athletic striker featured in English soil, an teenage appearing for the reserve team against German opponents at the English ground in the 2015 season, he found the net. The second time he appeared in British turf, against the Black Cats two months later, he netted. The third time, against the Citizens soon after, well, he did it once more. As he revisited to the city to take on Manchester United at Leigh’s ground in 2017, he found the back of the net. A spectacular strike, also. “Truly,” he remarks, “it’s a top-class goal I’ve netted.” So Athletic did their duty: they took him off.
“I became very upset,” the attacker reveals, and then he starts laughing. “There must be a video somewhere. We went to play United and I was in fine form. I wasn’t allowed to feature the latter period: my contract wasn’t finalized agreement, I kept finding the net, there were lots of rumours, as you’d expect. I’m unsure regarding the Magpies’ pursuit, but I came across reports about Man United, standard transfer gossip. It’s unclear how true it was, but had they contacted me, I’d have chosen to stay at Bilbao. It’s a privilege.”
La Real relieve strain with extraordinary derby triumph
At Lezama, the Basque Country, the morning session is set to begin; after it, the brief trip to the airport and a further journey to the UK, on this occasion to face Newcastle in the UCL on midweek. Just saying those two words makes Guruzeta smile. It’s turning out to be a challenging campaign for the team, partly because of the requirements of their participation. Defeated late on in the local rivalry, they have won only one of their last eight matches and fallen to the Gunners and the German side in the continental stage. However, take in the big picture, the big nights he has lived and those that lie ahead, and he feels a calm gratitude within him.
In the the period since he had returned to the club, Guruzeta has been a semi-final participant, stopped at the gates a final at home by Manchester United, and has boarded a decades-old barge along the Nervión river accompanied by a huge crowd after lifting the trophy, the team’s initial silverware in four decades. Now he is the club’s leading marksman in the European competition, where they are countercultural and returning after absence in ten years. “I couldn’t have pictured this,” he admits.
Guruzeta thought it hard enough just to earn a spot and he was right. Born to the ex-La Real star his father and a regular attendee at the club that are now his rivals, Guruzeta is a product of Antiguoko, the Donostiarra team that produced the Arsenal manager, Xabi Alonso and the tactician. He joined Athletic at his teens but after his top-level debut in that summer, he experienced a serious knee problem, being released, a drop in category and a recall before he could truly get a chance, coming back aged 26 to enjoy the highlights of their lives.
“Joining the setup thinking you won’t reach the first team but every phase you advance through you’re still there and you can notice the proximity. You get there but … you have to leave.” He played six, nine, five, one, four and 20 minutes in six games between his bow and early 2019. “Then I was sent to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. Several appearances there and I tear my cruciate.
“It was a huge blow but I look back on it as a turning point because it made me change the way I saw things. The rehabilitation process is difficult, but it helps. You adopt practices you didn’t have. It’s not that you don’t look after yourself, but I did the sessions and then return home, like when you’re a kid. At Lezama, you have everything, so take full advantage. Training, prehab. Strength training. If your hips aren’t balanced, correct it. With decent ankle function, improve it more. Every small aspect: perform them.
“Among professionals you’re going to collide with opponents who have been in battles 200,000 times. Highly robust. I look at photos of me before: my physique was slight. So what happens, happens. Current photos and it’s totally different. Injury made me see that. Sessions end, but further effort is needed. Teammates are set, really ready; no exceptions.”
Game time is essential. The striker moved in tears in the pandemic season, in his early twenties, dropping into the second division. At Sabadell in that season, he netted three goals in 40 games. With Amorebieta in the second half of 2021-22, the goals started to flow. “It’s a common path: transfers, releases. Should you reverse it, work, believe, and should the time come they need someone for your role, a return could happen. Readiness is vital. Upon the recall, it was a dream come true. To then win the Copa del Rey, European football, and reach the Champions League … pfff.”
Understandably he remarks savor the moment. Particularly after last year which, at times, was involved suffering. After being leading scorer with 16 in 2023-24, he managed seven in {15 games more|additional matches|