Two years ago Jota scored the goal that sealed Eibar’s 1-0 win over local rivals Alaves and more importantly earned them promotion to La Liga, in one of footballs most unlikely fairytale stories.

Eibar, is a city within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It’s home to 27,440 people, enough to fill the Camp Nou three times. Their lovely, little Ipurua Stadium holds 6,285 fans. Their on promotion party pitch invasion didn’t have enough fans to cover the pitch.

Despite being promoted the Basque club could’ve faced demotion back to Segunda due to a lack of finances. The club needed to raise €1.7 million to keep their place in the top flight of Spanish football.

Club president Alex Aranzabal started issuing shares, with fans from Scotland, England and USA all purchasing shares at €50 a pot. Ex-Eibar midfielder Xabi Alonso took the time to raise the issue during a press conference stating the situation didn’t make sense. The long and short of it is that the share capital was raised and Eibar were granted entry into La Liga.

With almost no money to their name and a their biggest season in their history ahead of them Eibar began their recruitment, signing six players on free transfers, loaning three and signing two players for a grand total of €87,000. The newly promoted club were struggled to adapt and finished in the final relegation position, despite this Elche were relegated to Segunda Division due to their financial struggles, keeping Eibar in the league.

Last season Eibar finished in 14th place, were league leaders on Matchday 1 and were in a position for European football at times they were a joy to watch, but what does the 16-17 season hold for one of the football’s move loveable clubs.

So what does the 16-17 season hold for one of the football’s move loveable clubs?

Firstly, they need to deal with the loss of Keko. It’s looking likely that the 24-year-old will join Malaga for €5 million. Despite only scoring three goals and assisting three, Keko was one of Eibar’s most influential players last season and was a joy to watch.

Replacing him is likely to be summer signing Ruben Pena who joins on a three year deal from Leganes after his contract with the Madrid club expired. With eight goals and four assists in 30 Segunda games Pena should slot straight into the right midfield position next season.

The man who sealed Eibar’s promotion to La Liga, Jota returned in January for an 18th month loan spell and we should see the best out of him next season.

Elsewhere, Borja Baston’s loan deal has expired and he’ll return to parent club Atletico Madrid after an impressive season with Eibar. Having scored 18 La Liga goals last season, Baston has earned admirers from Premier League club Tottenham, but the striker has made it clear in the past his dream is to play for Atletico. When questioned about his future in January, Baston stated:

“I am an Atlético, I’m from there and of course I want to play there. It will be difficult, but this has always been my dream.”

Middlesbrough’s Kike joins Eibar after a deal was agreed in January and will be looking to settle back into Spanish football having previously played for Murcia.

Manchester City defender Florian Lejeune, who has spent the season out on loan with Girona is expected to join Eibar for €1.5m. The 25-year-old reads the game very well and is strong in the tackle and will only add to their defensive options.

With the club making a profit of roughly €10m last year and the increased finances in the TV rights deal and the sale of Keko it’s likely that Eibar will have a handful of transfer budget available to them. They’ve had success when signing players from the second tier, including the departing Keko, Saul Berjon, David Junca and Sergi Enrich, so expect them to find more gems from the Spanish second division.

It’s important that Eibar keep hold of the majority of their spine. Asier Riesgo, Takashi Inui, Adrian, Gonzalo Escalante, Dani García need to be kept hold off.More importantly, vice captain Ander Capa is going to be subject of interest from bigger clubs. Capa progressed through the clubs academy system and on 19th November 2015, Capa renewed his contract with Eibar, signing until 2018. If they can keep hold of him, that’s a major positive for the future of Eibar.

José Luis Mendilibar is an experienced manager who will only spend money on players he knows can improve his side and help them to a top half finish. For now though, the story of Spain’s most loveable club continues and the next chapter is yet to be written.”