Unai Núñez has more than fulfilled the objective that led him to sign for Celta last summer. After a couple of seasons with diminishing prominence at Athletic, the Biscayan defender decided to change airs in search of minutes and bet everything on Celta, where he has found the channel to recover the best football version of him. Unai plays again for the Spanish team (with which he made his debut in 2019), but above all he has become a key player in the defense axis of the sky-blue team, where he complements himself perfectly with Joseph Aidoo, center back for very different characteristics with whom the Biscayan has not taken long to reach a high degree of complicity.
The defender from Portugalete accumulates matches (he only lost one due to rotations and another due to card accumulation) and minutes (he has 1,890, more than triple the number he played all of last year) with increasingly better performance. Unai is not only standing out this season at Celta. The Biscayan also boasts of being the leader of recoveries in LaLiga. The Celtic has recovered no less than 45 balls in the 21 league games that he has played as a celeste. He has 7 recoveries more than the second in this section, the Brazilian Vini de Souza from Espanyol and his former teammate and former competitor at Athletic Yeray Álvarez (38). Behind them are the Argentinian centre-back from Betis Germán Pezzella and the blanquivioleta Javi Sánchez, with 34, and they are followed by the Celtic Fran Beltrán and the Togolese from Getafe Djené Dakonam, with 31.
The business with Unai has been profitable for Celta. The club from Vigo signed the Vizcayan last summer through a loan with a mandatory purchase clause for an amount of 7 million at the end of the season, with which from next season the defender will be a player for the Vigo team for all purposes. Athletic retains, however, a percentage (not specified) of a future sale. The exrojiblanco has more than justified the price that Celta is going to pay for his signing on the pitch due to his consistent performance (he has played all but two of the league games), his good understanding with Aidoo and his reliability with and without the ball and his mastery of the game overlooked, a deficit facet in recent seasons in the sky-blue defense.
Luca and Beltrán work normally and will be available for El Sadar
Celta returned to training yesterday after two days off with the focus on next Sunday’s duel against Osasuna at El Sadar. Carvalhal arranged in the sports city the first of the four training sessions that he has programmed to prepare for the clash, in which Óscar Mingueza and Renato Tapia will not be available. The Catalan defender is recovering from a muscle injury that, hopefully, would allow him to be back at the coach’s disposal for the duel against Espanyol on March 18 prior to the national team break, while the Peruvian midfielder will meet the franjirrojos on second of the three suspension matches with which he has been punished by the Competition Committee. The good news for Carvalhal is that Fran Beltrán and Luca de la Torre will be in perfect physical condition to face the game against Jagoba Arrasate’s men. Neither the man from Madrid nor the American could finish the last clash against Valladolid due to different blows from those who are already fully recovered. Larsen also withdrew due to a blow without consequences, with which the three will arrive at the game in full force. The young Hugo Sotelo participated in yesterday’s session, who made his debut with the first team on Sunday, and whom Carvalhal plans to use as an alternative to Renato Tapia.
