‘Every minor detail – execute them’: The striker’s path from rehabilitation to scoring with Athletic Bilbao
The first time the Spanish forward featured in the UK, an young playing for the reserve team against Borussia Mönchengladbach Under-23s at Adams Park in fall 2015, he scored. During his subsequent match he played in British turf, against the English side following that, he netted. The third time, against Manchester City not long later, indeed, he did it once more. As he revisited to the city to play against the Red Devils at Leigh Sports Village in that year, he did it once more. A spectacular strike, too. “Truly,” he says, “it’s a top-class goal I’ve ever scored.” Therefore the team did what they had to do: they substituted him.
“I was furious,” the attacker reveals, before breaking into laughter. “Probably there’s a recording. Our match against United and I was pretty good. They didn’t let me play the final 45 minutes: I hadn’t yet signed my contract, goals were flowing, many stories circulated, you know how it is. I don’t know about interest from Newcastle, but I came across reports about Man United, the typical thing. It’s unclear how true it was, but supposing an offer came, I’d have chosen to stay at Athletic. It’s a privilege.”
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At Lezama, the city, the early training is about to start; post-session, the short journey to the airport and another flight to Britain, now to take on the Magpies in the European elite competition on Wednesday. Uttering the name makes Guruzeta smile. It has become a tough year for the club, partially owing to the demands of competing at this level. Defeated late on in the weekend clash, they have won only one of their past eight league games and fallen to the Gunners and Dortmund in Europe. However, consider the broader view, the memorable evenings and future challenges, and he feels a calm gratitude about him.
In the three years since he had rejoined the team, the striker has been a Europa League semi-finalist, denied at the last hurdle a domestic final by United, and has boarded a decades-old barge through the waterway surrounded by a million fans after winning the Copa del Rey, the club’s first trophy in four decades. Currently he stands as the club’s leading marksman in the Champions League, where they are countercultural and debuting in a decade. “I never imagined this,” he admits.
The player believed it challenging enough just to earn a spot and that proved true. Born to the ex-La Real star the former professional and a dedicated fan at the team he now opposes, Gorka is a product of Antiguoko, the local academy that developed the Arsenal manager, the legendary midfielder and the Bournemouth manager. His move to Athletic came at 17 but after his top-level debut in August 2018, he went through a torn cruciate, dropped, a drop in category and a recall before he could earn his place, making his comeback to live the best days of the club’s history.
“You go into the academy thinking you won’t reach the first team but every phase you progress through you’re remaining and you can observe the approach. You arrive and then … you have to leave.” He featured briefly in six matches in six games between his bow and that period. “Subsequently I returned to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. Several appearances there and I suffered the ACL injury.
“A severe disappointment but In retrospect as a beneficial experience because it made me change the way I saw things. The rehabilitation process is difficult, but it aids growth. You cultivate routines previously lacking. Previously I was casual, but I attended practice and then head home, like when you’re a kid. In the facility, all resources are available, so do everything. Work, precaution. Hit the weights. With hip imbalance, work on that. With decent ankle function, enhance it further. All the minor details: perform them.
“In the first team you’re going to face physical challenges who have crashed into players 200,000 times. Extremely powerful. Seeing previous pictures: my legs are chicken legs. Injuries are inevitable. Current photos and it’s totally different. The setback taught me. Training finishes, but additional work remains. Peers are prepared, really ready; you have to be too.”
You also have to play. He left in tears in that year, at 23 years old, moving to a lower level. At Sabadell in 2020-21, he got three strikes in 40 games. At Amorebieta in the second half of 2021-22, the scoring picked up. “Many experience this: temporary moves, ended deals. Should you reverse it, effort, faith, and if one day a vacancy arises for your role, recall is possible. Readiness is vital. Upon the recall, an aspiration fulfilled. To then win the Copa del Rey, European football, and reach the Champions League … pfff.”
Understandably he remarks this is to be enjoyed. All the more so after last year which, at times, was focused on persistence. Previously the main threat with 16 in 2023-24, his output dropped to seven in {15 games more|additional matches|
