Wonderkid Factories: Athletic Bilbao

In the fourth part of our wonderkid factories series we’re taking a look at probably the most well known club so far. The club has reputation for producing youth players but not necessarily for top teams. In fact, their respect around Europe comes from their self-sufficiency above all else.

We are of course, talking about Athletic Bilbao. The club is actually based in a little town called Lezama about 10km outside of Bilbao itself and only has a population of 2,400 people. The training ground was opened there in 1971 and hosts the first team, women’s team and their academy sides. It also possesses eight pitches, a gymnasium, press room and medical facilities.

So why does the club have such a good reputation for youth development? Well, the club has one simple rule and that is to only play with Basque players. The Basque Country is a small province in Northern Spain which isn’t much bigger than the Madrid Metropolitan Area and only has a population of around 2.2 million people.

The reason for this slightly strange rule comes from a Copa Del Rey game in 1911 when Athletic were accused of fielding ineligible foreign players. From then on they have followed the policy that is still the basis of their club today.

To utilise the region to the best of their ability, the club makes sure that every boy born within a 60km radius is gifted Bilbao merchandise as soon as they are born and even have some maternity wards painted red and white. Athletic are fully ingrained into the Basque culture.

The values of the club are so important that they moved the iconic arch from the old San Mames stadium to the Lezama training ground, to instil a sense of institution and history in the young players who don the red and white stripes of Bilbao.

The great care that the club puts into its youth development has paid off with around 85% of their first team players coming through their academy. Even more impressively than that, despite their limitations the club has never been relegated from the top flight of Spanish football. Only Barcelona and Real Madrid have also managed that feat. Not bad company.

So, who are some the players to come through the ranks at Bilbao? Well to name a few Inaki Williams, Iker Muniain, Fernando Llorente, Aymeric Laporte, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Unai Simon, Asier Villalibre, Unai Nunez, Yeray Alvarez and Inigo Lekue.

Williams’ broke the La Liga record for consecutive appearances last Friday, playing his 203rd game in a row and Kepa still holds the record for being the most expensive goalkeeper in world football.

But who is the future of the Lezama academy? As always we’ve picked out a few players who might jump into the limelight in the next few years.

Nico Serrano (Winger)

Serrano is a talented young winger who has made the step up to the first team this season. He’s made two brief appearances off the bench whilst also being a key contributor to Bilbao’s B team in the Spanish third tier with a goal and an assist. At only 18 he is supremely talented already and scored on his debut for Spain’s U19’s.

Nico Williams (Winger)

The younger brother of Athletic favourite Inaki, Nico looks set to follow in his brothers footsteps. At just 19 he’s made eight appearances for the first team this season and has already featured twice for Spain’s U21’s.

Oihan Sancet (Attacking Midfielder)

Sancet is the oldest but most established member of the three. He made his breakthrough into the first team two seasons ago making 17 appearances before upping his contribution last term with 24 appearances.

The 21 year old is very nearly at 50 appearances for the club and with a few Spain U21 caps under his belt it might not be long before he receives a call up to Luis Enrique’s much changed regime.