Football has never been beaten from the top position as the favorite Soapopera of the masses, or opiate depending on whom you read, since its rise to fame in the course of the 20th century. Yet the rise of the spin-off show is: the transfer market in the game itself is an important shift in the game itself. A way to turn a 90-minute game into a 24-hour news cycle.
And for the last two summers, Athletic Club has become a leading character in the summer soaps, despite their Basque baske policy. On both occasions, the protagonist, Nico Williams, Barcelona gave the slip and sent the narrative slip in a bend to the left. At the end of all this, Athletic Club held their best player, one of the most talented attackers of Spain, and a star with an international profile that Athletic did not have this century.
A goal and two assists in the number 10 shirt in San Mames in the La Liga opener were sufficient evidence in dessert. There is no shortage of cynicism and points scores associated with how Williams's summer unfolded, but it is flawless that his decision to stay in Bilbao was the last proof that times are changing in the Basque Country.
“Going back, there was Javi Martinez, Fernando Llorente, Aymeric Laporte and myself – we all left,” other Herrera tells Football España.
“And they couldn't keep us. I remember that I was in my third year and I had no contract offer. So when it arrived at the end of the season, I left. And I think they are doing things in the right way now.”
Only 12 hours after the first reports from Williams who are considering coming to Barcelona, the younger brother of the iconic duo on social media smiling with a new ten -year contract, appeared.
“I don't criticize the past, but now they do things differently, and they are so fast. Oihan Sancet, Dani Vivian, they have long contracts, and the club already knows the most important players and when they have to offer a contract. So I think keeping these players, which is athletically closer to the top.”
Both Sancet and Vivian were himself on contracts until 2032, the first announced a general surprise on the San Mames -Veld two seasons ago. The best players at Athletic Club choose to commit to the club to deals that are head-scratching long for people without understanding what athletic means for them. But when he knew Williams, Herrera says that the platform is in place to grow up an athletic.
“For me he thinks he can fight for trophies in Bilbao. They can fight for Europe every year, he feels important. It is also important that you feel an important player there. You have responsibility, not only in the game, but also to represent your club.”
“I think he feels that he can be the best player in the club for the next ten years, but I will say this: he is hungry. I know him well and he wants to achieve things. So I believe he has the feeling that he can bring athletically to the next level. It will not be easy, but I think he believes he can do it.”
It has not escaped the fact that the decision of Williams to stay is impossible to understand without an appreciation for the unique relationship of Athletic with the Basque Country. For their 125th anniversary in 2023, the club sent every baby born in the region an athletic bib. The city of Bilbao itself has a population of 350,000, and yet a million people stood by the streets to celebrate their Copa del Rey wins last year.
Somewhere in those streets, the Williams brothers were found the night before their parade prominent party celebrations and they walked home with the fans who gathered. What Athletic Club can offer its players, in an ever -cold and Eelters, is romance.
“I have been there twice, already three years between 2011 to 2014, and then from 2021 to 2024. What I like about Athletic, is the philosophy, the way they promote the youth team, the respect they have for senior players, for the institution, and they always put the club first.”
“Football is changing, but athletics does not change that much, it is still romantic, they attach so much importance to the fans, and the respect they have for the fans who go to Leasama. Everyone stops to give the children a photo or a signature.”
The popular slogan that was populated by Narcis de Carreras in 1968 explains that the Club Williams could have entered this summer, are 'more than a club'. Herrera, who jumps more generally about athletic, stumbles unintentionally in the comparison.
“There are some people who don't like football, if you ask them, you watch football, they say no. But if you ask them or watch them athletic, they say yes. If you go to your neighbors, they are athletic fans. What means for Baske Country, is that everyone supports athletic, and it is more than a club more than just a club. “It goes much further than that.”