Valverde and Iñigo Pérez: The Manager Duel With a Story Going Back 25 Years
Saturday's Rayo vs Athletic clash pits two managers with a deeply personal connection — one that started in a living room in Navarra back in 2001.
Saturday’s La Liga fixture between Rayo Vallecano and Athletic Club is more than just three points on the line — it’s a reunion with serious backstory, and one that Spanish football fans will absolutely want to know about.
A Connection Rooted in Lezama
The two managers in the opposing dugouts this weekend — Ernesto Valverde and Iñigo Pérez — go way back. Not just as colleagues, but in a relationship that’s almost paternal in its nature.
Valverde, Athletic’s all-time record manager in terms of games in charge, was the bloke who literally knocked on Iñigo Pérez’s family’s door when the lad was just 13 years old. Back in 2001, Txingurri wasn’t managing — he was working as an assistant to sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, and part of his brief was scouting and recruiting young talent for the Lezama academy. One of those targets was a promising kid from Txantrea, a Navarra-based club affiliated with Athletic.
Iñigo Pérez has spoken openly about that moment, saying Valverde “went to find my parents when I was 13 so I could go to Lezama” — and that everything they shared together “helped him a great deal.”
From Academy Recruit to First-Team Teammate
Fast forward a few years and the pair would actually share a dressing room, albeit briefly. Iñigo was part of the Athletic first team during one of Valverde’s spells in charge, though it didn’t last long — he went out on loan to Mallorca, then returned to Bilbao in February dealing with a stress-related illness. Valverde handled the situation with empathy and care, and Iñigo eventually recovered before moving on.
His subsequent career took him through Numancia (2014–2018) and then Osasuna (2018–2022), where he helped the club get back into the top flight. Not bad going.
The Coaching Path and the Brexit Spanner in the Works
After hanging up his boots, Iñigo moved quickly into coaching, joining Andoni Iraola’s backroom staff at Rayo. When Iraola left for Bournemouth, Iñigo couldn’t follow him across the Channel — post-Brexit work permit rules meant he didn’t qualify. Bit of a sickener, that.
But it worked out. In February 2024, he was handed the Rayo job following Francisco’s sacking, signed a deal until June 2025, and then renewed for another year last spring.
Why This Match Has Extra Layers
- Valverde is Athletic’s most experienced manager ever — a genuine club legend
- Iñigo Pérez is widely considered one of the leading candidates to eventually succeed him at Bilbao
- The two men’s lives have been intertwined since Iñigo was a teenager
- Both are cut from the same Basque football cloth, shaped by the Lezama philosophy
There’s something genuinely lovely about this one. The mentor and the mentee, now on opposite sides of the technical area, both trying to get one over the other. Valverde, whenever he eventually decides to walk away from Athletic, will leave a door wide open behind him — and Iñigo Pérez might just be the man waiting to walk through it.
For now though, it’s about the points. And this Saturday, sentiment goes out the window.