C.D. Leganés officially presented midfielder Iker Undabarrena as new player this Tuesday morning. The Basque midfielder, who arrives from Portuguese side C.D. Tondela, was excited about his signing and convinced that C.D. Leganés and himself together will turn the current sporting situation around.
The club's sporting director, Txema Indias, began the event by welcoming the new '20' pepinero: "We could not miss a player from Lezama, like almost every year. Most of them have been successful on a sporting and personal level. He had the good fortune to make his debut with Athletic's first team, he was at Tenerife and Sabadell, and last year he experienced both sides of football, with a relegation and a cup final. We were looking for a player in that position and we are delighted that he is here, because he is the profile we wanted. Iker has had some bitter situations along the way and I'm grateful he's here".
"Imanol has clear ideas, he knows what he wants to play and from the first day he makes it clear".
For his part, Iker Undabarrena began by thanking the club for their confidence: "I thank Txema and Imanol for the trust they have given me. Other people wouldn't have put up with so much for me to come here. I hope to do my bit for the team to turn this situation around as soon as possible. When Txema called me I was very excited. It's a club that has recently been in the First Division, I have good references from people who have been here, the team, the city, the fans. We have fought to be here and I am very happy".
On his adaptation to the club, Iker said that "Imanol has clear ideas, he knows what he wants to play and from the first day he makes it clear to you. He asks you to play with confidence and to be yourself. That's a plus, because everyone knows what they have to do and where they have to position themselves. We're getting the manager's idea and we're going for Eibar on Friday. I've found a dressing room thinking about what else to do to get something out of the Lugo game. The team gave an image that is what we want to transmit for ninety minutes. The team wants to go for the games and be the protagonists".
"We haven't started the way we wanted to, but in all three games we've deserved more points than we got".
As for his role, with more than 100 games in the category, Undabarrena recognises that "when you play more games and seasons, you gain experience and these are points in your favour. You can help the younger players adapt to a very difficult category. We haven't started the way we wanted to, but in the three games we've deserved more points than we got. I trust the team and the coach and I'm sure we'll get through this. The competition is to improve day by day. If you don't play, the players tend to relax and that makes you better every day. If you don't play you have to earn your place and your teammate also has to give 100% every day. I'm here to contribute and earn my place when the coach decides".
As for the club's current situation, Txema Indias acknowledged that they have to "try to strengthen in the remaining hours, we haven't yet given Imanol the balanced squad we wanted and we're going to try. We've done things well and badly, it's normal for people to criticise. The team has zero points, we are all suffering a lot and we have to turn it around as soon as possible and bring tools to Imanol".
"Fortunately or unfortunately," he continued, "from the moment we sat down with the new ownership and the coach, we detected what the team needed. So far we haven't been able to turn that around, we are clear about what our objective was, now we are a bit on the edge and we are going to see how we can improve the squad," he concluded.
