Often reaching the sport's elite is not a matter of luck, but chance intervenes to clear or put stones along the way. Two inconvenient injuries crossed in the career of Aitor Fernández (Mondragón, 1991) to get him away from a destination that seemed to be under the sticks of a goal in San Mamés. Rational and very constant, he insisted that his daily effort count and today his name is again underlined in the red-and-white agenda and of some other club.

With Levante and at 28 he has reached a maturity that leads him to be the goalkeeper with more stops at this start of the League: 44 in 11 games, an average of four per day. In Zamora, he falls to fourth place because, despite his interventions, Levante is one of the teams that are topped against and has conceded 1.18 points per game. The task will be complicated today, when the granotas receive Barça, which tops the list of the most scorer, in the City of Valencia.

Raised in Lezama, in August 2011, just when Marcelo Bielsa told him that he would open a hole in the first team and would be the starting goalkeeper of Julen Lopetegui in the U20 World Cup in Colombia, his elbow failed him. With his ligament the possibility of fighting the goal to Iraizoz and Raul was broken. The option to take steps in their growth was to leave home. Problems arrived in the clavicle and the transfer to Barakaldo. The doors were finally closed when the club recovered Iago Herrerín and it was already seen that a very young Kepa Arrizabalaga was strong.

Paco López's commitment

Aitor did not hesitate then to accept Villarreal's offer to play in his subsidiary. And there he coincided with Paco López, the technician who insisted on having him again in his squad and has given him unquestionable ownership in the Levante.

With the yellow subsidiary he played more than 100 games in three seasons, but decided again to look for another goal where he had projection. Marcelino's promotion to that Villarreal was very complicated and in 2016 he chose to sign with Numancia. Its consolidation was rapid, displacing the main goal of the Moroccan national team, Munir. With the Soriano team he played promotion promotion and he still remembers as one of his best matches the duel in La Romareda and how he took off his foot to avoid a goal from Papu. That summer, Levante, for Paco López's efforts, paid 1.2 million for his transfer and signed a contract until 2020, with an option for one more season, setting a 20 million clause that he is now in a hurry to review.

Aitor had to wait in the shadow of Oier until last February, when his situation on the squad took a turn. From that moment, nobody can discuss the goal. It was a decisive player in the game that closed the salvation of Levante in Girona and just a month ago he supported the team in the victory against Leganés, stopping a penalty and avoiding two goals in the added time.

Buffon and Dida

Far from seeking their references in Basque goalkeepers, the Guipuzcoan declares himself an admirer of Buffon and Dida. "I've always noticed them, because without being recognized for making spectacular stops, they were always well placed," he recalls.

He defines himself as an "avoidant" goalkeeper, "because my intention is always to order the defense not to reach us, so that the game passes without touching the ball," he admits. So far, he has not succeeded. Keep blocking and clearing balls while waiting for an upward revision of your contract that does not distract you with siren songs.

He is one of the players with the lowest salary in the squad and, despite his clause, he started an agreement that his freedom remained at 1.5 million if he received an offer and his salary did not increase. Athletic explores this path in the face of doubts he has with Herrerín and Unai Simón, while Levante accelerates to tie his improvement and his clause. He, meanwhile, remains confessed that he sleeps peacefully.

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  • Julen Lopetegui
  • First division
  • sports
  • football
  • Lift UD
  • Villarreal CF
  • Athletic Bilbao

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