Athletic promote Bittor Llopis to lead Bilbao Athletic after Jokin Aranbarri departure | OneFootball

Athletic have chosen an internal solution, with Bittor Llopis set to lead Bilbao Athletic after Jokin Aranbarri’s two-year spell ended.

According to El Correo, Llopis will move up from Basconia. Bilbao Athletic sat in the play-off places at the halfway mark but collapsed after the break, the third worst side in Group one of Primera Federación and at one stage concerned about survival, a slump that perhaps contributed to Aranbarri’s exit.

Llopis joined from Alavés’ academy alongside Mikel González four years ago, first taking Juvenil A before stepping up to Basconia. He has held that post for the last three seasons with strong results.

His first year brought second place in Tercera Federación, then defeat in the promotion play-off to Portugalete. He followed up with a historic rise to Segunda Federación as dominant leaders of the Basque group. This season he corrected course mid-campaign and posted play-off form after the break to secure safety comfortably in the fourth tier.

The Basconia role will also be filled from within, with Adrián Esteve to take charge. The Valencian coach arrived to work with the Infantil group in 2022 under then Lezama director Sergio Navarro. In 2023/24 he moved to Juvenil B and across the last two campaigns he has led Juvenil A to back-to-back División de Honor Nacional group titles.

Source: El Correo