After flirting with relegation last season before ultimately finishing 16th, Athletic Bilbao again finds itself near the bottom of the LaLiga table and struggling to avoid a fate that’s never befallen the Basque club (a distinction it shares with only Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spanish football).
Much has been written about the club’s youth development system and transfer policy of only recruiting players who are native to or who’ve been trained in the greater Basque Country, but the side has had to contend with the sales of Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea), Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City) and Ander Herrera (Manchester United) in recent years. Given the situation the club finds itself in the table and the excess of cash reserves from these sales, it’s been rumored that Bilbao is working to bring back Javi Martinez from Bayern Munich and Fernando Llorente from Spurs.
However, if the club can continue to get the most out of 24-year-old forward Inaki Williams, they might not need to splash the cash. The Bilbao youth product signed an improved four-year deal with the club last January — one with a release clause of nearly $125 million — but he’d experienced a slow start to the season along with the rest of his teammates.
But after scoring a brace against Sevilla on Sunday — giving him three goals and one assist in his last two league appearances — the pacy forward has played the role of savior for his club this month.
His first goal today included an electric run and emphatic finish in the 23rd minute.
And his second goal in the 84th minute was even better.
He now has seven goals in 19 appearances this season, matching his total from 38 games last campaign.
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