Unai Simón recalled in the “Athletic Talks” podcast how he returned from his brief loan at Elche and how fate played a joke on him before he could appear before the red-and-white public. The goalkeeper, who had been loaned to the Alicante city's subsidiary, returned to San Mamés unexpectedly, receiving a call from his coach in the middle of the town's fireworks celebration.
As he explained, the call came at midnight when Murgia's team was in the festive mood. “Amorrortu calls me at twelve at night and tells me 'Unai, get ready, you have to go back,'” the goalkeeper said. The following day, during the squad talk, he was informed that Kepa had left the club for Chelsea and that Iago, his goalkeeping partner, had suffered an injury. However, nothing was communicated to him about Remiro, and Simon believed that Iago would recover soon and that he would be Remiro's deputy. "I thought that Iago was recovering and that then he was going to be Remiro's substitute. Innocent of me I went there, I arrived on a Thursday and made my debut on a Monday," he added.
On the day of his debut, Athletic trained in San Mamés with the presence of Berizzo, who informed him that he would play in the next game. Just a few hours later, the club had decided that Simón would be the starter alongside Alex, and the goalkeeper was forced to adapt to the new reality. “The stars aligned for Unai Simón to make his debut with Athletic,” he commented, highlighting the speed with which the situation in the locker room changed.
Simón's return coincided with the departure of Remiro, who signed with Real Sociedad at the end of the season. With the absence of the two main goalkeepers, Athletic was forced to rely on a goalkeeper who, although unexpected, demonstrated his ability by going from the Second B to the First Division in just a few days. The goalkeeper expressed that the opportunity, although unexpected, turned out to be a good fit for the team.
Tomorrow, Athletic will face the San Mamés derby, where Unai Simón's performance will be crucial. With the squad in transition and the need to maintain competitiveness, the club is confident that the young goalkeeper will be able to continue offering solid performance in the upcoming games.