Which Athletic player do you associate with the number 14?

Unai Nuñez is number 14 at Athletic. The Repelega defender, according to the official website of the red and white club, is in his sixth season at Athletic, although it is true that it is divided into two stages because this season he returned on loan from Celta. The Biscayan debuted with the first team with number 30. It is true that in the same season, when he signed him for the first team, he changed it to number 12.

In the following campaign and until his departure from Celta, Nuñez played at number 3, inheriting the number vacated by Enric Saborit. Now with his return, he also has no choice, he has 14, left by Dani García after his departure from Olympiacos. The center back who wears the number 12 has played with Bilbao Athletic and even with the Spanish under-21 team. The day he made his debut in the Spanish team with Moreno as coach and replaced Sergio Ramos, he wore number 20.

We come to the point, what the great Joaquín Caparrós would say before an interview: which Athletic player do you associate with the number 14? I will stick with Markel Susaeta.

Probably because he is the one I see most often in that number. He played eleven seasons and 507 official matches. He is the seventh player with the most appearances in Athletic history. The player who never appeared in the summaries. That’s how I define him.

What a job he did on the right wing and how little his career was known. And his numbers and his performance are there.

Roberto Ríos’s was a historic 14th. Not because of his performance as a lion, although he became an international in Spain, but because of the price paid by the red and white club to Betis: 2000 million pesetas. Until the arrival of Iñigo Martínez, the most expensive signing in the history of the rojiblanco club.

Others 14

The Portuguese native inherited that number from his best friend Jose Mari. Óscar Vales or Luis Prieto are other important players who wore that number. I don’t want to forget Dani García. The one from Zumarraga wore number 14 in five out of six seasons as a lion, a number I always wore at SD Eibar. In fact, he wears it at Olympiacos. It turned out to be less, but I liked how Dani García was at Athletic.

We haven’t seen Nuñez play for Athletic for a long time, until last Saturday in the cup match against UD Logroñés, he started. Let’s just say he wasn’t having his best night, and neither was the team. He has made five appearances this season, highlighting his goal assist at Roma and his fine performance against Espanyol, true to form in a rivalry that Valverde’s side have overseen.

Is his return necessary? I understand yes. Although the red and white club saved the season last season with three centre-backs, I don’t think this is the best way to face a campaign with another competition in its legs. Unai Egiluz is not an option for Valverde. Hence his debt to Mirandés.

Núñez certainly wants to play more minutes, but he must fulfill his role. He is the smallest one around Vivian, Paredes and Yeray. “Once you leave Athletic it’s very difficult to come back,” he said in September. He’s back. Not that he enjoyed many minutes at Celta either. Continuing in three competitions would be good news for him. It won’t be something from another Thursday.