In a video without words and with goals; In a few lines addressed to the fans, Fernando Llorente (Pamplona, 38 years old), said goodbye to football almost with silence, after several months without a team after leaving Eibar, with which he was one step away from ascending to the First Division. He had already announced it unofficially in an interview published in February: "You will not see me playing football," he said, but now he has confirmed it. "From a very young age I dreamed of becoming a footballer. And who was going to tell me that I would be able to enjoy and live everything that football has given me, "he says in his farewell note. "It has been a long road in which with work, sacrifice, humility and passion I have been able to enjoy playing in great teams in which I have always proudly given the best of myself."
Llorente began his professional career at Athletic, which he joined at the age of eleven. He lived with a family trusted by Lezama's coordinator, José Mari Amorrortu, and studied at the Askartza school in the mornings, before attending training in Lezama. He was climbing steps thanks to his physical conditions and his relationship with the goal, but he was about to cut prematurely with the Bilbao club when he refused to renew the parameters imposed by the club for Bilbao Athletic. The arrival to the presidency of Fernando Lamikiz unraveled the situation; Llorente got what he wanted and a few weeks later, on January 16, 2005, he debuted in the First Division under Ernesto Valverde, in a league match against Espanyol. Only three days later, in a cup match against Lanzarote (6-0), he showed his qualities as a scorer with a hat-trick. That season he also managed to score three goals in the League.
He went through with Athletic the biggest sporting crisis of the club, with two seasons in which the team ensured its permanence in the First in the last days. He played little, covered by Ismael Urzaiz, and even suffered some contempt from Javier Clemente. "Away from home he still wrinkled, got scared and didn't perform well," said the Barakaldo coach. "He was a 20-year-old kid, so we had to sign Aduriz to avoid relegation. With me he had not to be a starter, but I think what bothered him the most was that he called him Fernandito."
With the arrival at Athletic of Joaquín Caparrós, the situation of the team stabilized, and Llorente began to grow as a footballer. He went from scoring seven goals in the League, to making eleven the first season of the Sevillian, 14 the second, 18 the third and 17 the fourth. By then, the club had already sold Aduriz to Mallorca, Fernando was the undisputed holder and had reached internationality with Spain. He was World Champion in South Africa 2010 and European Champion in 2012. By then he was already one of the most sought-after strikers in the League.
With the arrival of Bielsa, his figure continued to shine. He was one of the banners of Athletic that marveled at Old Trafford, the Veltins Arena and throughout his European journey, which ended in the final in Bucharest against Atlético de Madrid. In the semi-final against Sporting de Portugal, Llorente scored the qualifying goal at San Mamés in the 90th minute. The Cup final against Barcelona, was another of the two missed opportunities to get a title with the rojiblancos.
But from there, things went wrong in Bilbao. In the summer another of the red and white figures, Javi Martínez, left the club and Llorente dragged his feet with his renewal, until he announced to the club that he would leave at the end of the season.
Bielsa's second campaign was not like the first; Athletic rescued Aduriz from Valencia and the San Sebastian began to have more prominence than Llorente. He played 26 matches and only scored four goals. Months before the end of the season, Juventus announced that it would sign the striker born in Navarra but raised in Rincón de Soto (La Rioja). The first campaign in the Vecchia Signora was splendid. The international striker scored 16 goals in 34 games, but his prominence was decreasing in the following season (31 games and 7 goals), so at the end of 2015 he signed for Sevilla, but for the Riojan began a journey through several clubs in which he did not have much continuity.
Although at Swansea he scored 15 goals in 33 games, and those numbers served him to land, transferred for 17 million euros, at Tottenham, in London, next to Harry Kane, he did not manage to shine. In spite of everything, a goal of his in the discount, put the London team in the final of the Champions League. Then he played in Napoli, was loaned to Udinese, returned to the team of southern Italy, and finally closed his career as a footballer in Eibar, in the Second Division, with which he played 20 games and added two goals.
Afterwards, although he continued to train on his own, he did not find a team to suit him. In an interview with the program El Larguero, of Cadena SER, last September, he hinted that his farewell was near. In that dialogue with Manu Carreño he confessed that, "things did not go as I would have liked with Athletic. I had to say goodbye to the club I grew up at from the age of 12 to 28. I feel like home", and pointed out that, "I am very sorry not to have returned and finish well, although I am happy with the race I have had". The last attempt to return to Bilbao was aborted by the board of Aitor Elizegi, before the response of the social mass of the club. Rafa Alkorta, the sporting director, had suggested his hiring.
In his final farewell note, Fernando Llorente, World Champion, European champion, winner of two Leagues, a Cup and two Super Cups with Juventus, a Cup with Napoli and a Europa League with Sevilla, shows his gratitude, "to everyone for the opportunities provided and to the fans who always support me for the affection received during all these years. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to enjoy all the moments that football has made me live and for all the great people, friends that along the way I have been able to meet".
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