eugene
08 Jul 2004, 06:38 PM
5 years without a new signing at San Mamés
Athletic Club is self reliant. It has to be. Owing to the club's precarious economic situation (which is true throughout football in general but even more so under the tightfisted reign of Ibaigane) and the scarcity in the transfer market of Basque players at reasonable prices – Mendiate and Arteta were two players recently contemplated – Athletic faces its fifth season in a row without bringing in a new player. The last incorporation from outside was that of Aitor Karanka who arrived during the 2002-2003 season from Real Madrid. But even he was a free transfer.
To find the last time Athletic loosened the purse strings you have to go back to the signings o Orbaiz and Tiko who arrived in Bilbao from Osasuna. And even these signings are unusual, given that the transfer was in accordance with an agreement between Athletic and the club from Navarra in which Athletic lent out a fixed number of players every year to Osasuna in return for the right to bring one player a year back to Bilbao. It was Luis Fernandez who prior to the 1999-2000 season acquired both players although he chose to let Orbaiz remain one more year on loan.
If by transfer one means a strict player-for-cash-at-market-value transaction, you need to go back to 1998-99, when Athletic paid 1,000 million pestas for Santi Ezquerro from Atletico de Madrid. Two years earlier, Urzaiz came over from Espanyol for 500 million old pesetas.
With no chance of improvement in the financial picture in sight, Athletic will face the beginning of yet another demanding season. The task ahead will be even more arduous since for the first time in 7 years, the club, in addition to the two domestic competitions, is back on the European stage after qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Because the club’s coffers are shut tight, no reinforcements are coming in. And with the club’s internal political situation passing through a period of uncertainty, the future does not exactly inspire optimism.
From www.as.com July 7, 2004
Athletic Club is self reliant. It has to be. Owing to the club's precarious economic situation (which is true throughout football in general but even more so under the tightfisted reign of Ibaigane) and the scarcity in the transfer market of Basque players at reasonable prices – Mendiate and Arteta were two players recently contemplated – Athletic faces its fifth season in a row without bringing in a new player. The last incorporation from outside was that of Aitor Karanka who arrived during the 2002-2003 season from Real Madrid. But even he was a free transfer.
To find the last time Athletic loosened the purse strings you have to go back to the signings o Orbaiz and Tiko who arrived in Bilbao from Osasuna. And even these signings are unusual, given that the transfer was in accordance with an agreement between Athletic and the club from Navarra in which Athletic lent out a fixed number of players every year to Osasuna in return for the right to bring one player a year back to Bilbao. It was Luis Fernandez who prior to the 1999-2000 season acquired both players although he chose to let Orbaiz remain one more year on loan.
If by transfer one means a strict player-for-cash-at-market-value transaction, you need to go back to 1998-99, when Athletic paid 1,000 million pestas for Santi Ezquerro from Atletico de Madrid. Two years earlier, Urzaiz came over from Espanyol for 500 million old pesetas.
With no chance of improvement in the financial picture in sight, Athletic will face the beginning of yet another demanding season. The task ahead will be even more arduous since for the first time in 7 years, the club, in addition to the two domestic competitions, is back on the European stage after qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Because the club’s coffers are shut tight, no reinforcements are coming in. And with the club’s internal political situation passing through a period of uncertainty, the future does not exactly inspire optimism.
From www.as.com July 7, 2004