Athletic Club have one of the most interesting transfer policies in world football. The club can only sign players who were born in the Basque Country, who developed in the team’s academy system or who came through at another Basque football club. Aymeric Laporte, Inaki Williams, Unai Simon, Ander Herrera and Kepa Arrizabalaga are just a few of the names who have come through Athletic Club’s academy system over the past decade or so.
Another such player to have risen through their ranks is attacking midfielder Oihan Sancet.
Oihan Sancet joined Lezama – Athletic Bilbao’s famous youth academy in 2015 from Osasuna. After a very successful 2017/2018 season with Athletic U-19, it was announced that Oihan will spend the preseason training with the first team. He hasn’t looked back since and is already a star in Ernesto Valverde’s setup.
Sancet scored the first hattrick of the La Liga season. It makes it successive seasons in which Sancet has scored hattricks in a match, one of many impressive assets to his game. Such has been his form that the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool are looking to bring him to their respective clubs this summer. So how good really is the young Spaniard?
How good is Oihan Sancet?
The 22-year-old has been one of the best players for Ernesto Valverde’s side this campaign and his stellar form has caught the attention of the elite clubs in Europe. Sancet has been a key player for Ernesto Valverde’s team this season having already registered seven goals in 20 La Liga appearances so far.
Sancet is quite a robust player. Very tall and with a rather refined physique, the academy graduate is certainly a presence on the pitch and a handful for opposition defenders. The flamboyant midfielder was the first player to score a hat-trick in the 2022/23 La Liga season as he bagged three goals in Athletic Bilbao’s 4-1 win over Cadiz. He has made over 100 appearances for his boyhood club till date while scoring 16 goals and producing seven assists.
Read More about other young stars of Bilbao:
Sancet can play a number of different positions which makes him rather versatile for managers. Under Marcelino, he was primarily used as a…
..
