There are not many people in the world who know what usually goes through the head of Gaizka Garitano. On the contrary, it may take just the fingers of one hand to count them. So, despite the fact that all the signs pointed for weeks to his continuity on the Athletic bench, it was necessary to wait to know his position on the matter. And after much waiting, the news has arrived this Friday: it will continue in San Mamés for at least one more season.

The rojiblanco sports director, Rafa Alkorta , had already announced weeks ago that he wanted the continuity of Garitano, but that the formal negotiation would not be established until the face-to-face work in Lezama returned. Once a certain normality was recovered, the negotiations have been swift and have concluded positively, for which reason Garitano will continue to exercise a position that he assumed in December 2018, after the dismissal of Eduardo Berizzo .

With Garitano's signature, Athletic seals the almost total continuity of its coaching staff, from fry to the first team. In Bilbao Athletic, Joseba Etxeberria will continue and in the second subsidiary, Basconia, Patxi Salinas also follows . A few days ago, the renewal of the coach of the women's first team, Ángel Villacampa , was also announced .

Regardless of the possibility that Athletic will play the next Europa League (a goal that right now has five points), Garitano will face the coming season with his eyes fixed on the Cup final against Real Sociedad that still has no date. And that, predictably, will not have it in a long time. A historic meeting in which Garitano and his staff will measure their weight in Athletic's history: one more coach if he loses it, one to remember if he wins it.

Atypical transfer market

The former coach of Eibar, Deportivo and Valladolid will also have the responsibility of deepening the renovation process in which the Red and White squad is immersed. Aduriz has already left and it is most likely that Beñat and San José will also leave , as Susaeta , Iturraspe and Mikel Rico already did a year ago .

Villalibre is called to fight to occupy part of the space left by Aduriz and the young Vencedor and Sancet , along with the loan Nolaskoain , will fight to find a place in the center of the field. They will be his main reinforcements, since it does not seem that the market is going to offer Athletic much. Apart from recurring names in each market, such as Javi Martínez and Berenguer , there are not many more options for the rojiblanco club, less in a summer as atypical as the one that is approaching.

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