Iñigo Pérez found his place in Cidones, the Soria village behind Villarreal’s new coach | OneFootball

For Iñigo Pérez, Villarreal’s new head coach, the root of his career lies in Cidones, a Soria village of 313 people, 15 kilometres from the capital, at the foot of Pico Frentes and the Sierra de Cabrejas. That is where, during his Numancia years, he found more than a home.

According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, Pérez says Soria gave him clarity, that he discovered his vital space there and still returns.

Cidones is a place of stone, cold and pine chimneys, with indiano houses and open horizons. A short drive from Soria, it is crossed by the Torba stream and ringed by cereal fields, oaks and pines. Long winters, brief summers and a slow rhythm define it.

Pérez joined Numancia in 2014 and found a team that let him compete, feel important and breathe. Under Jagoba Arrasate his game expanded and he became the coach’s extension on the pitch.

That cycle peaked with the 2018 push that almost took Numancia to Primera. He was crucial against Zaragoza at La Romareda, scoring and assisting, before rejoining Arrasate at Osasuna.

He keeps going back, not as a tourist but as someone returning home. He put down roots with a local family, spends holidays and summers there, and even Christmas, with his parents choosing Cidones over Pamplona.

In Cidones he switches off, walking for hours in the mountains with his dog, he once had two. He relishes the Sierra de Cabrejas, La Cuerda del Pozo, the Caño de la Mora and routes linked to Antonio Machado and the Laguna Negra, a landscape to walk and view football from his own vantage point.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo