Cata takes charge at Osasuna: “We must align sport and finance” | OneFootball

José Antonio Prieto “Cata” is now officially serving as Osasuna’s new sporting director following Braulio Vázquez’s departure to Valencia. The new head of the sporting department was presented at El Sadar alongside president Luis Sabalza, who highlighted Cata’s more than nine years of work within the club and argued that his appointment represents a natural transition. For his part, the new sporting director explained the principles on which he intends to carry out his new role: “I want to work with sporting and financial consistency and normality and, above all, ensure that the working group can say what it thinks without having to pay a price for it afterward.”

Cata also had words of appreciation for Braulio, who was in fact the person who opened the doors of professional football to him when he was still combining his job with his work as a coach in the Tercera División. Regarding the current squad, he said he was satisfied and believes it has sufficient resources to achieve its objective, although he left the door open to possible moves in January. “Every squad can be improved and, if it falls within the financial parameters, we will be open to it,” he said. His immediate priority is to consolidate a project he considers reliable and one that will allow Osasuna to continue growing in La Liga.

Among the specific issues he addressed was the situation of Ante Budimir. Cata acknowledged that the club is looking to gradually lower the average age of the squad, although he stressed that “what matters is performance on the pitch, not date of birth,” and admitted that he would like the Croatian striker to remain in Pamplona. He also pointed to Íñigo Arguibide as a player destined to fill one of the team’s two full-back positions “in the short, medium and long term” and defended the situation of Romain Del Castillo, about whom he said he was “very calm.” As for the youth academy, he backed developing footballers rather than imposing a specific playing style, since he believes Osasuna must maintain its own identity.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.