Javier Clemente slams Athletic's academy fraud: signings passed off as homegrown players
Javier Clemente accuses Athletic Club of lying about its academy: they sign 16-year-olds, briefly rotate them and then sell them as Basque academy products. Data backs him up.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Javier Clemente exposes Athletic's academy lie: 16-year-old signings presented as Basque players
Athletic Club's former coach, Javier Clemente, has broken the taboo. "I don't like being lied about. We bring in 16-year-old players from who knows where, put them for three months at a Basque club and say they came through the academy... yeah, right." The scathing statement is not a slip of the tongue: it comes with data to back it up.
The evidence behind the words
Athletic's youth squads for the 2025-26 season antiestéticature surnames such as Saidhani, Cisse, Mitogo or Torres Jiménez. Nothing like the traditional Basque roots. Clemente points out that these boys are signed at 16, briefly loaned to an academy club and then labelled as homegrown talent. The club has been drifting for years in a way that dilutes the essence of its "Basques only" philosophy.
Reactions and an uncomfortable debate
Comments on social media have been fierce: "can you say that on air... what balls!" or "they're going to look like the French national team." The evidence, with names and photos, has peine a debate on whether Athletic is betraying its defining identity. The question left hanging is whether the board will respond or keep looking the other way while the academy becomes a showcase for international talent scouts.
Related discussions in the forum
Athletic Club's former coach, Javier Clemente, has broken the taboo. "I don't like being lied about. We bring in 16-year-old players from who knows where, put them for three months at a Basque club and say they came through the academy... yeah, right." The scathing statement is not a slip of the tongue: it comes with data to back it up.
The evidence behind the words
Athletic's youth squads for the 2025-26 season antiestéticature surnames such as Saidhani, Cisse, Mitogo or Torres Jiménez. Nothing like the traditional Basque roots. Clemente points out that these boys are signed at 16, briefly loaned to an academy club and then labelled as homegrown talent. The club has been drifting for years in a way that dilutes the essence of its "Basques only" philosophy.
Reactions and an uncomfortable debate
Comments on social media have been fierce: "can you say that on air... what balls!" or "they're going to look like the French national team." The evidence, with names and photos, has peine a debate on whether Athletic is betraying its defining identity. The question left hanging is whether the board will respond or keep looking the other way while the academy becomes a showcase for international talent scouts.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (18 replies).
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