Josu Urrutia’s press conference

Athletic Club president, Josu Urrutia, held a press Conference on Thursday, 3 July, in Ibaigane Palace.

In his appearance he announced that Athletic Club has reached an agreement with Iker Munian. Thanks to which, his contract will be extended for two more years, until 30 June 2017. Also, the cancellation clause of the forward from Irun will go from 37.5 million to 45 million Euros.

The rojiblanco president has clarified how Ander Herrera’s departure to Manchester United has taken place, indicating that it was the player himself, unilaterally, who decided to leave Athletic Club. In this sense, Josu Urrutia has once again reaffirmed that Athletic Club is faithful to its values and, consequently, the organization been has not arranged the transfer of one of its players, which is why the way forward was the termination of the contract by the player. With all said, Urrutia also wanted to join the malaise of the rojiblanca social mass, describing Ander Herrera’s decision as ‘disappointing’.

However, he has also underlined that Athletic Club’s main mission is that of creating a working group and, in that sense, has added that our team is made up of a young, motivated squad with resources and a well-equipped technical team with the capability of achieving excellent output, as has been demonstrated this past season,.

In view of the upcoming season, and more concretely with regards to the Champions League qualifying rounds matches, Urrutia has indicated that San Mamés will be able to accommodate all its social mass from the first day. However, the works in the stadium will continue until spring.

The president clarified that in a few months the entity will proceed to the tendering of the Lezama expansion works following the guidelines of the recently approved Master Plan, and that Athletic Club is awaiting the permits from AENA and the Lezama City council to undertake the works of the definitive location of the San Mamés Arc.