There was a time... (part two)

Kessié, during the Gamper Trophy against the Pumas.Joan Monfort (AP)

When I signed for FC Barcelona, ​​in the Pleistocene of football, there were many things that worried me about that trip.

In the professional part, it was that I had seen myself playing for Athletic all my life, that I had won League and Cup titles, and was going to debut in a World Cup as an Athletic Club player, goalkeeper, so I didn't it seemed that he could qualify for many more sporting successes at club level.

On the other hand, Barça had in Urruti a magnificent goalkeeper and one of those players who connect naturally and fluidly with the stands, so it could be understood that in that position they were not very lame and that the competition was going to be Huge to play with the 1 in that stadium, at that time and for me, gigantic far from that Cathedral so full of red and white legends and stories.

Personally, it meant going out with Ane from our house, from our brand new house, and, furthermore, with a newborn son, since Markel was 20 days old when we arrived to settle in Barcelona.

Perhaps it is because of that unexpected change of club, and the circumstances for adapting to a new city, a new culture and being very aware that these changes concern not only the player but his entire family;

In my time as sports director I have used to give a lot of importance to the player who arrives feeling supported, cared for, protected in that lesser-known personal part and that often ends up destabilizing the most focused footballer.

I have to say that today and with the social networks, protecting and caring for private and family space has disappeared, because this has become a new product to sell and capitalize on, a space that gives more "likes" to a player who his best performance on the pitch.

But what I would have never, never, never, never (I could go to infinity with this sequence) I would have imagined neither then nor a few months ago is that the uncertainties and challenges involved in changing teams, the entire decision process and doubts that accompany abandoning the known, the day-to-day routines, those that give you peace of mind when you adjust them to your vital and professional needs;

Add to all that... being able to be registered to have a card and be able to... play.

I have seen and known transfer processes that have been frozen until the club that was buying had to sell a player first in order to have money to go to the market and close the agreed operation.

We have learned that it is one thing to sign for a club and another to be able to have a record with it and be able to play.

Of course you may be thinking that the fundamental objective when signing a player is… that he plays.

That it is good that he sells shirts in the club store, that he brings new followers to social networks, that he even brings a new profile of

who are interested in our team, because that new player opens up new markets.

But what is essential, what is essential, even the obvious, is that that player, those players, those new talents play football in official competition with our shirt.

The one that, with all the confidence or with a certain candor, we have already bought in the official store of our team.

And this obviousness, this absurd obviousness, seems, today, the most morbid unknown, much more so than that old one from the first line-up, in more than two clubs in our League.

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