Hugo Rincón loses momentum at Athletic | OneFootball

Hugo Rincón’s momentum at Athletic has stalled after an encouraging summer and back-to-back loans. As reported by as.com, the right-back’s route to regular minutes has narrowed in recent weeks.

Fresh from loans in Segunda with Mirandés and in Primera with Girona, he felt ready for a shot. He caught the eye in pre-season under Terzic as a long, almost winger-like wing-back, although defensive gaps appeared. At 23 and contracted to 2028, he expected to compete with Areso, particularly after Gorosabel left for Espanyol.

The league opener against Sevilla finally brought his Athletic debut, 16 minutes on 22 August 2026 at San Mamés after he replaced Paredes in a match shaped early by Yuri’s dismissal. He then started the second league game against Barça and played the full match. Since then he has not featured, with Areso firming up the position and Johaneko emerging on the flanks.

Against Elche on Saturday he came on for Areso, who had erred badly for the penalty that led to Elche’s equaliser.

Rincón’s road has been long. The Valtierra native joined Lezama as a cadet and moved through almost every rung, yet the senior step proved elusive. In 2023-24 he made 13 squads under Valverde without playing, and sporting director Mikel González has said he has a big future and has to make it at Athletic.

Source: as.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”