From one to six, Athletic’s centre-back crisis eases by early April | OneFootball

Athletic will go from one fit centre-back in mid January to as many as six by early April, as reported by as.com.

On 13 January at the Reino de León in the Copa del Rey, Aitor Paredes was sent off in the 56th minute. With only one first-team centre-back left, Yuri Berchiche came on to cover in the middle and the tie finished 3-4.

At that point, Laporte was sidelined with a hamstring problem for two months, Egiluz was recovering from ligament surgery, and Yeray Álvarez was suspended by the FFA until 3 April. Monreal did not feature.

Now the picture is transforming. Vivian, Paredes and Laporte are fully fit, Egiluz is ready after more than seven months of rehabilitation, and Yeray will be available again once his sanction ends. Monreal is helping from the B team after a promising Liga debut.

That turnaround, from crisis to depth in roughly two and a half months, eases the strain on Ernesto Valverde after having to improvise in defence. Yeray’s return comes for the run-in, ending 10 months of enforced absence.

Source: as.com