Unai Simón: "I'll be at Athletic until the club decides otherwise"
Unai Simón: "I'll be at Athletic until the club decides otherwise"
The shotstopper previewed Saturday's Basque derby against CA Osasuna, emphasising that importance of keeping a clean sheet in Pamplona
Athletic Club goalkeeper Unai Simón made it clear he sees his future at Los Leones when asked about recent transfer rumours at a press conference on Wednesday morning.
The international shotstopper, a lifelong Athleticzales, first joined the club as a 14-year-old and climbed up through the ranks at Lezama until making his senior debut in 2018/19 and going on to establish himself as Athletic's no.1 keeper.
"Sometimes I get tired of saying it, but I'm not going anywhere," Simón told local media.
"I'm going to be here until the club decides otherwise. Don't worry about that. If you see some sort of article about a bid or something like that, don't pay it any attention."
Unai Simón.
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Simón admitted that Los Rojiblancos' performance against Real Madrid in last week's LaLiga opener at San Mames was not up to the standard they expected, but he is hopeful they will get back on their feet with a win over CA Osasuna on Saturday night (21:30 CEST).
He said: “It wasn't a good display. But we've still got the same sense of optimism we gained over pre-season and we've been training well. We know that we'll be better in the match against Osasuna."
Our no.1 reiterated that dealing with Osasuna's "non-stop crosses" and keeping a clean sheet are key to getting a successful result at El Sadar.
"We can't think about what happened last year," Unai added. "The aim has to be to win, just as it would be any other weekend. We'll have to defend well and look to better them in attack."
He also stressed that Athletic's "target is to qualify for Europe", saying: "We are ambitious and winners, and we want to prove that every day on the pitch. That's what it's all about."