Iago Herrerín on Valencia move: Ochotorena, Gattuso and losing 10 kilos in a week | OneFootball

Iago Herrerín has detailed the whirlwind week that earned him a short stint at Valencia in 2022, crediting Ochotorena, Gattuso and a drastic weight cut. The 38-year-old goalkeeper remains active.

"Ochotorena rang me and said they still did not know how serious Jaume's injury was, but there might be an opening. That afternoon they offered me a trial. At 34 it was either take the trial or go to Türkiye, which I had lined up. I did not hesitate, I went because I knew I would stay," he said on the Offsiders podcast.

In September 2022, with the window closed and Gennaro Gattuso newly appointed, back-up keeper Jaume Doménech suffered a serious injury. Valencia turned to free agent Herrerín as experienced cover for Giorgi Mamardashvili. He played only one competitive game, 12 minutes off the bench against La Nucía in the Copa del Rey third round.

"I arrived nine kilos over. Gattuso told me, I know you, if you promise to lose the weight, I will sign you. I was lucky, there was a game then an international break. I had 14 days and in seven I dropped 10 kilos."

"I trained morning and afternoon, did not eat, just drank water. At night I had a chicken breast, I would wake to drink water, I was dehydrated all day. My girlfriend left and came back and asked, what has happened."

"They brought me in to sign and Gennaro said, I told you to lose weight, but calm. I went from 75 skinfolds to 49 in eight days."

Source: Superdeporte

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