‘All those silly things – do them’: Guruzeta’s journey from gurney to goals with Athletic Bilbao

Thehe debut appearance Gorka Guruzeta featured in the UK, an 18-year-old playing for the reserve team against Bundesliga youth at Adams Park in the 2015 season, he hit the target. During his subsequent match he took the field in the country, against the Black Cats weeks after, he netted. Another occasion, against Pep Guardiola’s team soon after, sure enough, he scored again. As he revisited to the city to play against the Red Devils at the sports complex in the 2017 season, he scored again. It was a superb volley, too. “Truly,” he remarks, “it’s a top-class goal I’ve netted.” Therefore the team did their duty: they took him off.

“I got well angry,” the forward reveals, then chuckling. “I’m sure there’s footage. We traveled to face United and I performed well. I wasn’t allowed to feature the second half: I was without a signed my contract, I was scoring goals, speculation was rife, it’s typical. I don’t know about Newcastle being interested, but I came across reports about Man United, standard transfer gossip. It’s unclear if it was accurate, but had they contacted me, my desire was to remain at the club. It’s a privilege.”

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At the training ground, the Basque Country, the morning session is about to start; following that, the brief trip to Loiu airport and a further journey to the UK, on this occasion to play Newcastle in the Champions League on the upcoming match. Mentioning that phrase lights him up. It’s turning out to be a difficult season for Athletic, partially owing to the demands of competing at this level. Defeated late on in the local rivalry, they have secured just a single victory of their past eight league games and been defeated by Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund in the continental stage. But, look at the overall situation, the big nights he has lived and future challenges, and there’s a kind of quiet appreciation about him.

In the three years since he had come back to Athletic, Gorka has been a Europa League semi-finalist, stopped at the gates a domestic final by Manchester United, and has boarded a decades-old barge up the Nervión estuary flanked by countless supporters after winning the Copa del Rey, the team’s initial silverware in 40 years. Currently he stands as the top goal-getter in the European competition, where they are countercultural and making their first appearance in a long period. “I never imagined this,” he admits.

Guruzeta thought it challenging enough just to make the first team and that proved true. Born to the one-time rival player Xabi Guruzeta and a regular attendee at the team he now opposes, Guruzeta is a graduate of Antiguoko, the local academy that developed the coach, the legendary midfielder and Andoni Iraola. His move to Athletic came at seventeen but after his top-level debut in that summer, he went through a serious knee problem, dropped, a relegation and a call back before he could finally secure an opportunity, returning at 26 to live the best days of his career.

“You go into the academy doubting you’ll make the top level but each step you progress through you’re remaining and you can observe the approach. You arrive and then … departure is necessary.” He featured briefly in six matches in a handful of matches between his bow and that period. “Subsequently I returned to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. A few matches with them and I suffered the ACL injury.

“A severe disappointment but I reflect on it as a beneficial experience because it forced me to alter the way I saw things. The rehabilitation process is difficult, but it helps. You adopt practices previously lacking. It’s not that you don’t look after yourself, but I would go to training and then go home, typical youth behavior. At Lezama, facilities are comprehensive, so do everything. Training, prehab. Strength training. With hip imbalance, work on that. If your ankles are a 10, make it a 12 or a 14. All those ‘silly things’: do them.

“At the top level you’re going to face physical challenges who have experienced contact countless occasions. Highly robust. Reviewing old images: my physique was slight. Thus incidents occur. Current photos and it’s totally different. Injury made me see that. Sessions end, but there’s more to do. Teammates are set, really ready; you have to be too.”

Game time is essential. The striker moved in tears in 2020, at 23 years old, joining the second tier. With Sabadell in that season, he netted three goals in numerous matches. During his Amorebieta stint in the latter part of the season, the scoring picked up. “Players go through it: temporary moves, ended deals. If you turn it round, work, believe, and if one day a vacancy arises for your role, a return could happen. Readiness is vital. When the opportunity came, an aspiration fulfilled. The trophy success, play in Europe, and reach the Champions League … pfff.”

No wonder he says appreciate the experience. Particularly after the prior campaign which, sometimes, was focused on persistence. Previously the main threat with a high tally, he managed seven in {15 games more|additional matches|