Inside Athletic

Football is back. On Thursday afternoon the Athletic first team officially began preseason training as the players worked individually on the fields at Lezama under the instruction of Gaizka Garitano. The squad will undergo PCR testing again on Friday with hopes of soon being cleared to train as a group.

Not ever player was present for the first training session. Iñaki Williams, Unai López, Oihan Sancet, Unai Núñez, Gaizka Larrazabal, and Iñigo Córdoba were all absent after testing positive during Tuesday’s screening. All six players are currently self-isolating at home and are asymptomatic. They will have tests again next week ahead of possibly joining their teammates at Lezama.

Andoni López was also missing from the session as the left-back is still serving his loan spell with Elche. The Segunda side will be competing in the promotional playoffs and López will return to Athletic once Elche’s season is over. Likewise, Dani Vivian has already joined Mirandés on loan for the upcoming season and is already training with the club. Peru Nolaskoain underwent a recovery session as the midfielder is still dealing with discomfort in his right ankle which forced him to miss the final game of Deportivo’s season on 7 August.

In total, Garitano had 24 players in training on Thursday to kick off what will be an unprecedented preseason in light of the pandemic. Athletic will spend the entire summer training at Lezama in preparation for the upcoming campaign where the Lions have hopes of lifting the Copa del Rey title and qualifying for Europe.