‘All those little things – make sure you do them’: Guruzeta’s path from injury table to scoring with Athletic Bilbao

Whenhe debut appearance Gorka Guruzeta competed in England, an teenage appearing for the youth squad against Bundesliga youth at Adams Park in September 2015, he scored. The second time he played in British turf, against the English side following that, he netted. Another occasion, against Pep Guardiola’s team not long later, well, he did it once more. When he returned to the city to face United at Leigh Sports Village in the 2017 season, he scored again. An excellent finish, as well. “In fact,” he says, “it’s a top-class goal I’ve ever scored.” So Athletic did their duty: they took him off.

“I became very upset,” the forward admits, and then he starts laughing. “I’m sure there’s footage. Our match against United and I performed well. I wasn’t allowed to feature the second half: I hadn’t yet signed my contract, I was scoring goals, there were lots of rumours, it’s typical. No confirmation on the Magpies’ pursuit, but I recall seeing about Manchester United, standard transfer gossip. It’s unclear the validity, but even if they had called, my desire was to remain at Bilbao. I feel lucky to be here.”

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At the facility, the Basque Country, the morning session is set to begin; after it, the short journey to Loiu airport and another flight to Britain, this time to play Newcastle in the Champions League on midweek. Mentioning that phrase lights him up. It has become a tough year for Athletic, due in part to the pressures of being here. Defeated late on in the weekend clash, they have won only one of their last eight matches and fallen to the Gunners and Borussia Dortmund in Europe. But, take in the big picture, the big nights he has lived and upcoming events, and a sense of thankful reflection from him.

In the the period since he had rejoined the team, Guruzeta has been a semi-final participant, stopped at the gates a final at home by the English giants, and has traveled on a traditional boat through the waterway flanked by a million fans after winning the Copa del Rey, the club’s first trophy in 40 years. Currently he stands as Athletic’s top scorer in the Champions League, where they are countercultural and making their first appearance in a decade. “This was beyond my dreams,” he says.

He considered it hard enough just to make the first team and his assessment was correct. Born to the ex-La Real star his father and a dedicated fan at the opposition side, Gorka is a product of Antiguoko, the Donostiarra team that produced the Arsenal manager, the former star and the Bournemouth manager. He signed for Athletic at seventeen but after his first-team bow in the 2018 season, he experienced a serious knee problem, being released, a demotion and a recall before he could finally secure an opportunity, returning at 26 to live the best days of his career.

“Entering the youth system thinking you won’t reach the senior squad but with every stage you progress through you’re persisting and you can observe the approach. You get there but … departure is necessary.” He featured briefly in six matches in half a dozen appearances between his bow and February 2019. “Subsequently I returned to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. Several appearances with them and I suffered the ACL injury.

“It was a huge blow but I look back on it as a turning point because it forced me to alter the way I saw things. Healing from a serious ailment is hard, but it’s beneficial. You adopt practices you didn’t have. Previously I was casual, but I would go to training and then return home, typical youth behavior. In the facility, you have everything, so do everything. Training, prehab. Get in the gym. Should your hips be uneven, work on that. Assuming ankle mobility is good, improve it more. All the minor details: do them.

“At the top level you’re going to face physical challenges who have experienced contact repeatedly. They’re so strong. Seeing previous pictures: my legs are chicken legs. Thus incidents occur. Look at pictures of me now and the change is dramatic. The setback taught me. Training finishes, but additional work remains. Everyone else is ready, really ready; you have to be too.”

You also have to play. The striker moved upset in that year, in his early twenties, dropping into the second division. With Sabadell in 2020-21, he netted three goals in 40 games. With Amorebieta in the following period, the goals started to flow. “Players go through it: loans, terminated contracts. Should you reverse it, dedication, confidence, and if one day they need someone where you play, recall is possible. Readiness is vital. Upon the recall, an aspiration fulfilled. The trophy success, play in Europe, and make the UCL … pfff.”

Understandably he remarks savor the moment. Particularly after last year which, on occasions, was involved suffering. After being leading scorer with a high tally, he managed seven in {15 games more|additional matches|