Javi Eraso will always be remembered as one of the members of Athletic’s historic squad that won the 2015 Spanish Super Cup. After leaving Bilbao Athletic in 2013 he spent two years at CD Leganes before coming back to play at the San Mames. During his last two years at Athletic he has seen his playing time slowly diminish and it became clear that he could be on his way out of the club this summer. Cuco Ziganda recently confirmed that the player would be making his exit this summer and that became a reality on Monday.

Athletic officially announced that they and Javi Eraso have come to a mutual agreement to terminate the last year of his contract so that he can sign a three-year deal with CD Leganes. The Lions will also retain a buy-back clause on the midfielder as well.

The writing was on the wall towards the end of last season when Eraso was left out of the squad on a weekly basis. There was just took much competition in the midfield for him to play regular minutes and this summer’s additions of Ager Aketxe, Mikel Vesga, and possibly Mikel Merino has made it almost impossible for him to have a role in Cuco Ziganda’s team. Returning to Leganes will give Eraso a familiar home and the chance to play every week as a Primera midfielder.

Moving forward Athletic has plenty of options to utilize in the midfield. Mikel Vesga is now a very real candidate to compete for a starting role alongside Beñat, while Ager Aketxe will provide solid depth behind Raul Garcia. There is still a problem of overbooking though as there isn’t enough room for all the midfielders in the squad. Players like Unai Lopez and Mikel Rico are still competing for their futures at Athletic Club and the potential arrival of Mikel Merino could add another major wrinkle to the team. Despite leaving his boyhood club, Javi Eraso is one of the few Lezama products from the last few decades that can say he won a title with Athletic Club.

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