Aperribay: “We would have preferred to keep the player but it wasn’t to be”

“Nurturing players is hard work and if we are not able to benefit from the results, we’ll always be at a disadvantage,” the president said on Friday.

“When we heard that Real Madrid were tracking Illarramendi, we contacted his representatives to inform them that we had no desire to take part in the operation. For us, he is a very important player and for the same reason we have elected a young coach to take charge of our first team. It was in our interest for Illarramendi to continue here with us,” said Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay, resigned to the fact that Asier Illarramendi, one of the club’s most promising players, will be spending the next six seasons at Real Madrid.

He continued, “Real Madrid contacted us last Friday and the next day we sat down with their representatives, and told them that we were not willing to negotiate. We spoke again on Tuesday evening then held conversations with Asier during which we expressed our hope that he would stay here with us but it wasn’t to be. At least we are lucky in one sense in that Madrid pay well. We are not willing to accept payment in instalments, we can’t accept that. Talks with Madrid were brief – because we didn’t really want to have to discuss something like this. We tried everything in our power to make it as difficult as possible for the operation to go through. But it’s impossible to stop them from stumping up the cash to pay the buy-out clause. Madrid had the decency not to haggle with us and the relationship between the two clubs remains very good”.

Aperribay added that Madrid only recently showed interest in Illarramendi: “We had lunch with Madrid officials back in May and the subject of Illarramendi wasn’t mentioned at all,” he said.

The president underlined Real Sociedad’s policy of holding onto players who have come up through the club’s youth ranks. “I have to defend the interests of this club. We have lost a player who would have been vital for us this season and we want to qualify for the Champions League with more home-grown players than ever before. We would rather still have Illarramendi with us than the money.

“Xabi Alonso left us after making 150 first team appearances and Illarramendi after 50. Nurturing players and bringing them through the youth system is hard work and if we are not able to benefit from the results, we’ll always be at a disadvantage. For players who are under 24 years of age, the buy-out clause should be higher. If we don’t take measures to protect ourselves, La Real and other clubs could end up disappearing and that’s something to think about. But now Asier is about to begin a new chapter in his career; we wish him the best of luck and hopes that he never forgets La Real”.