SD Eibar Faces Decisive Week to Announce New Coach

The Eibar Sports Society faces a decisive week to know the name of the coach who will replace Gaizka Garitano. The club has to first announce that it has reached an agreement to settle the termination payment for the Derio coach, and subsequently, it will officially announce his replacement.

José Luis Mendilibar, who would begin his second term as the tenant of the blue and red bench after leading the team in the 2004/2005 season, appears in all the speculations and, barring any last-minute setbacks, will be presented as the new coach of the Eibar entity imminently. Apparently, the Zaldibar native, who was seen near Ipurua last week chatting with the top executive of the club, Alex Aranzábal, and the striker Mikel Arruabarrena, will sign for two seasons, with the second one dependent on the team's permanence, the same formula that Garitano had.

Valladolid also showed interest in the Biscayan and caused a delay in negotiations. Eibar needs to announce the coach as soon as possible in order to make progress in the squad planning, as they currently only have nine players under contract.

Lillo, the First to Arrive

Manuel Castellano 'Lillo', one of these nine players who has an employment relationship with the club, is already training on his own at Ipurua. The Aspe wing-back, who has played 31 matches this season after being ruled out last summer and being renewed at the last minute, has taken a few days off outside the Guipuzcoa town, but has taken advantage of the fact that his partner works in the Eibar city to maintain his fitness with training sessions in the Azulgrana stadium gym.