Athletic, with goalkeeper problems due to the injuries of Simón and Agirrezabala

Athletic has a problem with the goalkeepers.

It has in its ranks the holder of the Spanish team, Unai Simón, and the occupant of the goal in the Sub 21, Julen Agirrezabala, but both are injured and perhaps neither of them can start the League.

As the club got rid of Jokin Ezkieta a month ago, who signed for Racing, Ernesto Valverde has had to promote the Bilbao Athletic goalkeeper, Ander Iru, who is also the son of the first team goalkeeping coach, and the youthful Alex Padilla, who has also been international with the Under 19 team.

Both have occupied the Athletic goal in the last pre-season friendlies.

Iru played the ninety minutes against Newcastle at St James Park, in which the rojiblancos starters lost 2-1, and Alex Padilla played the next day in Anduva against Mirandés, with the theoretical substitutes, in Athletic's victory by 0- 3.

However, neither of them has experience in the elite ahead of the league debut in San Mamés on August 15 against Mallorca.

The club's medical services are working intensely with Unai Simón, with a shoulder injury, but they rule out Agirrezabala, who last season was a starter in the league start due to Simón's vacation after the European Championship and the Olympic Games.

The goalkeeper from San Sebastian underwent surgery for a fracture in the third metacarpal of his right hand that he suffered during training.

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The silence in the signings

The case of Unai Simón repeats itself.

According to the medical report, he suffers from supraspinatus tendinopathy in his right shoulder, and since the beginning of the preseason he has trained outside the group.

Less than two weeks before the start of the championship, the situation remains almost the same.

From Athletic they do not give clues about the evolution of the goalkeeper's shoulder, who still trains apart from the other footballers.

It is not the first time that Simón suffers from his shoulder.

Last season he returned from playing in the Super Cup with pain in that area, which he dragged on for several weeks.

“He has some discomfort in his shoulder, but if he plays it is because he is fit,” Marcelino pointed out at the time.

Athletic's doctor, Josean Lekue, was moderately optimistic two weeks ago, when he commented on the goalkeeper's injury: “It's a sub-acute problem in his right shoulder.

We are still on top of him, but in principle he should not pose any problem from the point of view of his performance”.

However, he has not yet returned to Athletic's goal, which Luis Enrique is also awaiting, ahead of the League of Nations matches against Switzerland, in Zaragoza, and Portugal, in Braga, the last week of September.

Unai Simón has been the man of confidence in the goal for the coach, who awaits his recovery.

With an impressive quarry of goalkeepers in recent years, it is not the first time that the red and white goal has had problems for various reasons.

In 2018, Unai Simón returned from a loan to Elche to occupy Athletic's goal directly after Kepa left for Chelsea, Remiro decided not to renew, so he was removed, and Herrerín was injured.

The team did not do badly.

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