Championship promotion hopefuls Leeds United want to reunite Marcelo Bielsa with Athletic Bilbao’s long-serving La Liga midfielder Iturraspe.
Leeds United want to reunite Marcelo Bielsa with his former Athletic Bilbao enforcer Ander Iturraspe in the summer, according to AS.
But what would Leeds be getting in the former Spain international? Well, the fact that he was compared to one of the most impressive midfielders in world football during his younger days speaks volumes.
Xabi Alonso remains a hero in Spain for his huge success with the national team, not to mention his role in Real Madrid’s Champions League title triumph in 2014. The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich star was a wonderful playmaker, a terrific passer of the ball with vision and composure that seemed to come so naturally to him.
Iturraspe, who has a fine range of passing himself, had himself been compared to his fellow Basque. But, speaking to AS in 2014, the Athletic academy graduate claimed that he was not merely a carbon copy of the great Alonso.
“Xabi has achieved many amazing things in the game; I have brought so much to every club I have played for as well as the national side,” Iturraspe said when asked if he would replace Alonso in the Spanish national team.
“I try to learn things from him, but obviously I am a completely different player.”
Iturraspe is a ball winner as well as a passer, perhaps a more combative player than a Rolls Royce like Alonso.
At the age of 30, his time at the San Mames appears to be coming to an end however and AS believes that he could be a Leeds target when his contract expires this summer.
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