Club president speaks of ‘obligation’ around Tottenham player, treads carefully on transfer

Fernando Llorente was heavily linked with a move to Athletic Club Bilbao both before and during the January transfer window.

That chance seemed to die the moment Harry Kane was injured, but there were also negative pressures in Bilbao about the potential transfer. There are still some fans and people close to the club who hold a grudge against the Tottenham Hotspur player for how he left on a free transfer for Juventus.

El Desmarque calls them ‘haters’ and explains they spent weeks sending messages to the club and their then new president Aitor Elizegi, making it clear they didn’t want the player signed from Spurs.

Llorente hasn’t been secretive about his openness to an Athletic return, although since the January window he’s made it clear there was no winter approach from his former club.

Elizegi has been speaking to Spanish radio about the situation, with a summer move the next possibility, and El Desmarque have picked up the quotes: “Llorente said very clearly that Athletic had not addressed him in the winter market, but what the Club does have is the obligation to have proof of the status of the contracts of all the players capable of playing at Athletic.

“The Sports Commission is serious, it is their obligation to know how the contracts are, what the players think about their career, what age or what circumstances they have to return to Euskadi, what freshness, there are many variables in the professional life of a player, the positions that there are, etc…”

The Bilbao club only recruit Basque players, meaning their pool isn’t so big, so Elizegi may be getting the message out that Llorente has to be considered. He’s doing it carefully, probably not wanting his in-box full of angry emails over signing the Tottenham player.