Objective
From San Mamés to Balaídos. This is the leap that Unai Núñez has just made after several weeks in which a transfer that was on everyone’s lips had not yet taken place. Rivers of ink have flowed over the Portugalete defender in recent years and it was not for less.
What Núñez urgently needed a change It was as obvious as complex to assume by the entities interested in a fallen defense but with a terribly expensive contract. And in this has been the difficulty of concluding an agreement with the Vigo, who will finally take charge this next season of their emoluments in full.
Spared the complex issue of taking over an annual salary of more than one and a half million own, the agreement with the entity of the city of Olívica was celebrated in many environments of Bilbao knowing that in case of extending their stay in Vigo for another year, Athletic would receive at least 7 million in transfer. But the reality of football today shows that such deals are nothing short of a dead letter in this case as well.
The reality of the deal testifies to the fact that both sides could keep the player at the end of the campaign which is about to start. Something that doesn’t mean anything other than that it’s a (non-compulsory) purchase option that wouldn’t be given unless Celta and Athletic want it. i.e. wet paper. And there is the case of Morata (Atlético-Juventus), to recall the most famous of the most recent, to illustrate how an agreement of this nature does not lead to any port.
If Núñez had a fantastic season, it would be Athletic who would want him back, either for their ranks or to try and sell him for more than that 7 million to another club with greater financial power. In the event that the central defender’s campaign was Pyrrhic, Celta would send Ibaigane back to Núñez fleeing from having to pay the agreed amount, producing in this case the return of an old problem in Bilbao. A problem with an expiration date not June 2024 but 2025.
Should Athletic receive Núñez back – and whenever Celta want him back at a more reasonable price – he would only have to let the time pass to reconnect with Ibaigane and offer a lower amount than was just agreed a few hours ago. Just like Juventus are doing with Atlético de Madrid to get the Madrid striker back with a generous discount.
Does all this mean that Unai Núñez’s transfer operation to Celta de Vigo is a mistake on the part of the red and white management? No. Because with her manages to achieve at least three positive aspects: reduce the number of members of an overloaded workforce, save an exaggerated salary for a year and that an active member of the club can take advantage of regular minutes and thus gauge so far from an environment in which he felt suffocated, he can become again a reliable footballer.
From there, which is not little, nothing at all. The 7m option and the variables associated with it are nothing more than a toast to the sun as it is – and the worst it will look like in 12 months – the economy of Spanish football.
Like any deal, it had to be closed one way or another, as happens to any contract, but the skinny trees in this pact don’t stop us from seeing a forest that just keeps moving forward Celta de Vigo will not be able to pay these 7 million next June. In the meantime, the best for Unai. That he can recover and show that he has his place at the first level.
Lartaun of Azumendi