It has been a summer of notable exits in La Liga, as a number of iconic players moved on. The one-club man status has always been a rare thing in football, but the number of players closing in on it, has been slashed by 50% this summer.
Of the players over thirty that have been at their club their entire career, just five remain. Nacho Fernandez departed Real Madrid this summer at the age of 34, while across the divide, Sergi Roberto departed Barcelona. The 32-year-old looks set to join Como in Serie A after joining Barcelona at the age of 14. To the north, Iker Muniain rode off into the sunset after lifting the Copa del Rey as captain – he was at the club at the age of 11. Meanwhile at Villarreal, club legend Manu Trigueros moved on to Granada this summer, ending his lengthy stint with the Yellow Submarine.
Survey: If one them has to leave, who would you prefer – Eric García or Andreas Christensen? 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/FXe27PV4BY
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 22, 2024
Remaining in the running for the impressive feat is Koke Resurreccion at Atletico Madrid. He renewed his contract in the last year for another season, but has a rolling option to extend. Joining him are Alex Suarez at Las Palmas, Jaume Domenech at Valencia, Aritz Elustondo at Real Sociedad and Unai Garcia at Osasuna.
🇦🇷🕷️ Did you notice? Atlético Madrid featured a spider on Julián Álvarez's kit last night. That shirt is now on sale as a limited edition item, with only 919 pieces available, priced at… €220. 😳🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/EvTaqOSqAy
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) August 22, 2024
As pointed out by Cadena SER, there are several candidates exhibiting fierce loyalty to their clubs, such as Jose Gaya at Mestalla, or Inaki Williams in Bilbao. Mikel Oyarzabal is some way of 30 still, but is Real Sociedad captain, and the same goes for Kirian Rodriguez at Las Palmas.
