Athletic Club facing serious goalkeeping problems as Unai Simon replacement suffers significant injury blow | OneFootball

Earlier this week, it was reported that Unai Simon is set to under surgery on a long-term wrist injury, following the end of his participation at Euro 2024. He’s expected to be out for 3-4 months, which would have meant that Julen Agirrezabala would be between the sticks for Athletic Club until at least October.

Agirrezabala was excellent during Athletic’s Copa del Rey’s run last season, which culminated in the Basque giants winning the competition for the first time in exactly 40 years. The 23-year-old is a more than capable replacement for Simon, but unfortunately, he has now been struck down with an injury.

Athletic have confirmed that Agirrezabala suffered a contusion to his right lower back during Tuesday’s training session. Specifically, he has three fractures in the right transverse processes of L2, L3 and L4.

Relevo say that Agirrezabala would be out of action for one month, meaning that it could be very difficult for him to be fit for the first matchday of the new season. As things stand, Athletic Club would go into the campaign without a senior ‘keeper – 20-year-old Mexican youth international Alex Padilla would be their current first-choice option.