Hen Inigo Perez received a call from Andoni Iraola on his first day as coach, as he had done every day for months. They had known each other for 22 years, lived in the same residence, went through the same academy and played in the same team; they worked side by side as manager and assistant, and started an adventure together. Now Peres had to go alone. At 36, she had become who her friend thought she would be from the moment they met, and not so soon. “He wished me luck and said he was there for me,” Perez said, “if I ever needed anything . . .”
Well, maybe not everything.
“Sometimes life brings you what you never imagined,” Perez said after his coaching debut. Now he is on his way to Anfield. His behavior is ridiculous. Villarreal’s manager would not be sitting on the bench at Anfield until midnight if the Home Office had denied him a work permit, if the Football Association had not declared him unable to contribute to English football, if the partnership had collapsed and the family had returned, if his career had seemed derailed from the start. He would sit on the bench on the right.
This time, the man who should have been Iraola’s assistant turned out to be his opponent, nothing was given for 90 minutes. “I look forward to seeing him; we talk constantly, always there,” Perez said. “It’s emotional to face each other on the pitch. It’s all over when the referee calls, but it’s a great story.”
The story begins in 2002, when Perez arrived at the Bilbao Athletic Club academy at the age of 14. Iraola was 19 just six months after making his first team debut. They first played together in the first team in October 2009, but, teenagers and renters, something brought them together and will do it again. If Perez was more open, Iraola more private, even timid, they had much in common: an inquisitive mind, an ability to observe and listen, a humility befitting a club where arrogance was forbidden.
“Intellectually, they’re brilliant,” said Carlos Gurpegui, a teammate at the time. smart a word that comes back and is very hot. “Andoni had a privileged mind and Inigo had a lot of intuition [Fantasy Football] and Andoni always won,” recalls goalkeeper Raul Fernández.
If it gave them natural leadership, it was worn lightly, not enforced. As one coach noted: “If everyone went left and Andoni said, ‘Go right,’ they’d all be like, ‘Yeah, yeah, go right!’ They are two extraordinarily intelligent boys, always rational, able to reach out to others.”
Iraola saw this in the child, the ideas were explored together. “Inigo was always aware of tactics [shifts]”He said later. “At the age of 14 or 15, his way of thinking about the game was mature. Ever since I got to know Inigo, I thought he had the personality to be a coach. In fact, he had a clearer idea of becoming a coach than I did.”
“It’s no wonder they’re coaches,” says David López, who plays with them. Eneko Bóveda, who came with Pérez from the academy, says: “Individually they could be coaches; together, they were connected. Iñigo was extremely impressive in personal relationships, in every dressing room: emotionally intelligent, empathetic.”
The age difference was no barrier, but a product of their place, the culture of the community that created them. “When we reached the first team, that generation [above] was created, but it was very easy to talk to them and even get life advice,” recalls Fernandez, who, like Perez, was born in 1988. “I remember asking Andoni what I should do about my contract. Under the management of Marcelo Bielsa, the players would meet before the game with hot chocolate and croissants. Bielsa was very demanding, always at your throat; we took refuge in each other.”
Perez might not have been there at all, not wanted by Bielsa until he collided with goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz. “There was blood all over the place, his lips were parted, but Inigo continues and Marcelo thinks, ‘I can follow this guy to the end of the world,'” recalls Gurpegui. Enacting the scene, Fernandez begins to laugh: “Inigo didn’t know what was going to happen to him. I think I remember him even when he was sleeping in Lezama.” [the training ground] the fact that he was on the mat showed how loyal he was. That day, Bielsa shouted at the physio: “Let him go! Let him go! He wants to go on!” He goes to Inigo: ‘Bravo! Bravo! Here, boy!”
An opportunity opened up at fullback and Perez did what he always does: he adapted. Above all, they observed and accepted everything. “Inigo and I used to talk a lot about Bielsa’s way of training,” Iraola recalled. The ever-inquisitive assistants would ask Claudio Vivas, Pablo Quiroga and Diego Reyes endless questions. why. “But they’re football nerds who learn from everything,” says Boveda.
Their last game together was in October 2013. Iraola retired in 2016 and started coaching two years later. Perez, unseen, was drifting in the same direction. Mutual friends and a mutual agent indicated that they were never far apart and crossed paths again in February 2022. Perez did not play when Osasuna won 3-0 at Rayo, but their conversation that night stuck in Iraola’s mind.
Perez Iraola, 34, said his role now is really to help the coaches. Indeed, Osasuna manager Yagoba Arrasate was already calling him a “player-coach assistant” and soon invited him into the squad. When Perez turned down Uruguay, Bielsa approached him. When Iraola heard about Perez’s retirement, he immediately called and convinced him to come to Rayo. Assistant coach Unai Mendia was on his way and his old teammate was excellent. The impression made was immediate: “Inigo’s top,” said a member of the District’s coaching staff. “He was special, a phenomenon. Super-elite like Andoni.”
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Together with the fitness trainer Pablo de la Torre, who built the physical model around which the whole, wild ride was built, they were a revelation, practicing organized chaos. Nowhere was football more fun, a shared vision soon attracted the Premier League.
“I told Inigo when I found out that Andoni was going to Bournemouth he Rayo striker Sergio Camello recalls, and the club’s hierarchy agreed. However, Pérez thought that this would be morally wrong: it is the construction of Iraola, not its purchase. Besides, he wanted to continue with his friend. Iraola also wanted it, he took only two employees to England: Perez and Dela was a new wife. there.
But then Peres was denied a work permit. Bournemouth took him to the FA exclusion panel. Letters of support were sent, a lawsuit was filed. Iraola also wrote, explaining their history and describing Perez as “fundamental.” However, the panel was satisfied that he could “make a significant contribution to the development of the game at the highest level and at the highest level in England”.
“We tried our best,” Perez said, which was true: they even asked for permission to coach the youth team and were rewarded for trying it out. As he awaited the final decision, Perez continued to work: he could not wear a club tracksuit, appear in public or sit on the bench, but he was on the training ground every day. Until late autumn they had to admit defeat. It’s as hurtful personally as it is professionally. “It was very difficult, an uncomfortable situation for all of us,” Iraola said. “You can’t [work]you can’t send your children to school.”
Between them, Shaun Cooper, Tommy Elphick and De la Torre had to absorb Perez’s duties, with Iraola impressed and grateful for the squad he inherited. Perez returned to Spain after his tourist visa expired. The calls from Bournemouth continued, some consultations and lots of chats, not always about football. Then, when Rayo sacked Francisco Rodríguez at the start of 2024, the club offered him the manager’s job again. Iraola encouraged Perez to go for it. “In the summer I didn’t feel comfortable ethically and I wanted to continue with Andoni,” said Peres. “Things have changed.”
Camello admits: “I think the transition from assistant to head coach here was difficult. He was very close to us. Inigo loved us. too much: he felt so responsible for us that the inevitable frictions as No. 1 took to heart. But he opened to us, reached us. The relationship is still very good: he texted me yesterday with some bands to listen to. And I doubt I’ll ever meet someone as skilled in football. It’s amazing how many solutions it offers you in the field. It would not be a surprise to see him and Andoni in the Champions League. They have no limitations; We are grateful that the two wolves trained us.”
Their paths diverged, but the prescribed courses and styles were similar. “My football belongs to Andoni,” said Perez. Chaos still reigned many miles away and only a phone call away. Iraola took Bournemouth to Europe for the first time; Peres secured the District’s first European qualification and took them to their only final in their history. Bigger challenges awaited this summer, so here they are at Anfield, where there is relief that a friend’s career has not been destroyed, but has taken off. One employee says: “I’m very happy for Inigo because you want good things to happen to good people and he’s very, very good people.”
They will follow in Bilbao, where it all began. “It’s special: I’m proud of them,” Lopez said. Gurpegui says: “Iñigo suffered in England, but this situation created another opportunity and now look: Andoni at Anfield. Bloody hell, I’m very happy because they are two incredible people: humble, always there when you need them. Football needs more people like that.” Fernández adds: “And it will be fun to get to know them: brave, brave football, great game.”
Iraola says: “These games are not good for your relationship. We usually talk a lot, but when you’re face to face you talk less. This is a special game because he’s my friend. He knows me very well. We’ve been through a lot together.”