‘Every minor detail – execute them’: Guruzeta’s path from rehabilitation to success with Athletic
The debut appearance the Athletic striker featured in English soil, an teenage appearing for the reserve team against Bundesliga youth at Adams Park in fall 2015, he found the net. On his next visit he appeared in England, against the English side following that, he scored. His third outing, against the Citizens six weeks after that, sure enough, he repeated the feat. When he returned to the city to face United at Leigh’s ground in that year, he found the back of the net. An excellent finish, also. “In fact,” he states, “it’s a top-class goal I’ve ever scored.” So Athletic did what they had to do: they took him off.
“I got well angry,” the Athletic striker admits, then chuckling. “There must be a video somewhere. We went to play United and I was in fine form. They kept me out of the second half: my contract wasn’t finalized deal, I was scoring goals, many stories circulated, as you’d expect. No confirmation on interest from Newcastle, but I recall seeing about the Red Devils, the usual talk. I have no idea the validity, but even if they had called, I’d have chosen to stay at the club. It’s a privilege.”
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At the facility, Bilbao, the early training is ready to commence; following that, the short journey to the airport and another flight to Britain, now to take on the Magpies in the UCL on midweek. Just saying those two words lights him up. It’s turning out to be a tough year for the team, due in part to the demands of being here. Losing in stoppage time in the weekend clash, they have managed just one win of their past eight league games and been defeated by Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund in the continental stage. Yet, look at the overall situation, the major occasions he’s experienced and future challenges, and he feels a calm gratitude within him.
In the three years since he had returned to the club, the striker has been a Europa League semi-finalist, denied at the last hurdle the showpiece event by Manchester United, and has traveled on a traditional boat through the waterway surrounded by a million fans after securing the Spanish cup, the club’s first trophy in four decades. Currently he stands as the club’s leading marksman in the UCL, where they are distinctive and debuting in a decade. “I couldn’t have pictured this,” he states.
The player believed it difficult enough just to break into the senior squad and that proved true. The son of the one-time rival player his father and a season ticket holder at the team he now opposes, Gorka is a product of Antiguoko, the Donostiarra team that produced the Arsenal manager, Xabi Alonso and the Bournemouth manager. He joined Athletic at seventeen but after his top-level debut in that summer, he suffered a torn cruciate, the cut, a relegation and a recall before he could finally secure an opportunity, coming back aged 26 to experience the peak of their lives.
“Joining the setup not expecting to reach the top level but with every stage you go through you’re remaining and you can observe the approach. You make it and … you have to leave.” He featured briefly in six matches in six games between his debut and February 2019. “Then I was sent to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. Five, six games at that level and I tear my cruciate.
“It was a huge blow but I look back on it as something positive because it forced me to alter the perspective. Healing from a serious ailment is difficult, but it aids growth. You cultivate routines previously lacking. Previously I was casual, but I attended practice and then head home, as a youngster does. At the complex, you have everything, so utilize it all. Practice, prevention. Strength training. With hip imbalance, work on that. If your ankles are a 10, enhance it further. Every small aspect: do them.
“At the top level you’re going to face physical challenges who have experienced contact 200,000 times. They’re so strong. I look at photos of me before: my legs are chicken legs. Injuries are inevitable. Present-day images and the change is dramatic. Injury made me see that. Practice concludes, but further effort is needed. Everyone else is ready, really ready; you have to be too.”
Game time is essential. He left in tears in 2020, aged 23, moving to a lower level. During his Sabadell spell in the 20-21 campaign, he scored three times in forty appearances. At Amorebieta in the following period, the scoring picked up. “It’s a common path: transfers, releases. If you turn it round, effort, faith, and when eventually the requirement appears in your position, they might come back for you. 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 appreciate the experience. All the more so after last year which, sometimes, was involved suffering. Previously the main threat with 16 in 2023-24, last season he got seven in {15 games more|additional matches|
