![]() He can go back whenever he pleases, Llorente is less welcome. The deal never happened and he signed a new contract meaning when he was sold to Chelsea in the summer the coffers swelled at Athletic to the tune of £71million. He was close to moving to Real Madrid on a free. There are two ways to leave Athletic – you go when someone meets your massive buy-out clause or you wriggle your way free in the way that Llorente is perceived to have done.Ĭhelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga found himself in a similar position last year. ![]() He is not a local hero, he's remembered as a player who forced his way out of the club having run down his contract, therefore not just leaving but leaving the club without the premium of a fat transfer fee. Would the one time local heroes answer the call and come back to make sure Athletic don't go through the trap door for the first time in their history? ![]() It's no wonder the club are trying to get the old gang back together with Ibai Gomez re-recruited from Alaves this week and Fernando Llorente and Ander Herrera other targets. Last season they flirted with relegation but were never in the bottom three, this season they slipped into the dropzone in November – their worst position at that stage of the season for 12 years. Athletic Bilbao, or Athletic Club as their supporters prefer to be called, have, like Barcelona and Real Madrid, never been outside of the top flight. There are three clubs in Spain that have never been relegated – everyone knows who two of them are, nearly everyone knows the other one.
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