‘Every minor detail – execute them’: Guruzeta’s journey from injury table to goals with the Basque club

Whenhe initial occasion Gorka Guruzeta competed in English soil, an young representing Athletic Bilbao B against Bundesliga youth at the English ground in September 2015, he hit the target. The second time he played in British turf, against the Black Cats two months later, he converted. Another occasion, against Pep Guardiola’s team soon after, indeed, he scored again. When he returned to Manchester to face United at Leigh Sports Village in the 2017 season, he did it once more. It was a superb volley, too. “Truly,” he remarks, “it’s one of the best goals I’ve netted.” So Athletic did their duty: they took him off.

“I got well angry,” the attacker reveals, then chuckling. “There must be a video somewhere. Our match against United and I was in fine form. I wasn’t allowed to feature the second half: I hadn’t yet signed agreement, I was scoring goals, speculation was rife, it’s typical. No confirmation on the Magpies’ pursuit, but I came across reports about Man United, standard transfer gossip. I’m not certain how true it was, but supposing an offer came, my desire was to remain at the club. It’s a privilege.”

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At the training ground, Bilbao, the early training is about to start; following that, the quick travel to Loiu airport and a further journey to the UK, this time to take on the Magpies in the Champions League on the upcoming match. Just saying those two words lights him up. This is proving a difficult season for the team, partly because of the demands of competing at this level. Defeated late on in the local rivalry, they have won only one of their past eight league games and been defeated by Arsenal and Dortmund in the continental stage. Yet, consider the broader view, the memorable evenings and future challenges, and he feels a calm gratitude from him.

In the 36 months since he had come back to Athletic, the striker has been a semi-final participant, denied at the last hurdle the showpiece event by Manchester United, and has boarded a decades-old barge along the Nervión river accompanied by a million fans after winning the Copa del Rey, the team’s initial silverware in four decades. Now he is the club’s leading marksman in the Champions League, where they are unique and debuting in ten years. “I couldn’t have pictured this,” he states.

He considered it difficult enough just to break into the senior squad and his assessment was correct. The son of the one-time rival player his father and a season ticket holder at the club that are now his rivals, Gorka is a product of Antiguoko, the local academy that nurtured Mikel Arteta, Xabi Alonso and the tactician. His move to Athletic came at his teens but after his first-team bow in that summer, he went through a ACL injury, the cut, a drop in category and a return before he could earn his place, making his comeback to experience the peak of their lives.

“Entering the youth system not expecting to reach the senior squad but with every stage you advance through you’re persisting and you can observe the approach. You arrive and then … you’re sent away.” He played six, nine, five, one, four and 20 minutes in a handful of matches between his bow and February 2019. “And then I go back down to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. Five, six games with them and I suffered the ACL injury.

“A massive setback but I reflect on it as something positive because it forced me to alter the outlook. The rehabilitation process is challenging, but it’s beneficial. You adopt practices new to you. Previously I was casual, but I did the sessions and then go home, typical youth behavior. In the facility, you have everything, so utilize it all. Training, prehab. Get in the gym. Should your hips be uneven, correct it. With decent ankle function, make it a 12 or a 14. Every small aspect: do them.

“At the top level you’re going to crash into players who have crashed into players countless occasions. They’re so strong. Reviewing old images: my legs are chicken legs. So what happens, happens. Current photos and the change is dramatic. The setback taught me. Practice concludes, but additional work remains. Teammates are set, really ready; the same applies.”

You also have to play. He left upset in the pandemic season, in his early twenties, dropping into the second division. At Sabadell in that season, he got three strikes in 40 games. With Amorebieta in the latter part of the season, the he found his form. “It’s a common path: temporary moves, ended deals. Should you reverse it, work, believe, and if one day they need someone for your role, a return could happen. Readiness is vital. Upon the recall, a fantasy realized. Lifting the cup, compete continentally, and make the UCL … pfff.”

Understandably he remarks this is to be enjoyed. Especially after the previous season which, at times, was focused on persistence. Previously the main threat with a high tally, last season he got seven in {15 games more|additional matches|