Unai Simón's Commitment to Athletic Club: No Release Clause

In an era when contracts come with escape hatches and loyalty is often measured in euros, Unai Simón has chosen a different road – one that leads straight back to San Mamés and refuses to bend.

On 24 May 2024, the Athletic Club goalkeeper signed a new deal with the Basque side. No release clause. No safety net. Just a signature that matched what he has been living for years.

For Simón, the paper is secondary. The feeling is not.

“I don't think the question of whether or not there's a release clause necessarily reflects the truth of your feelings towards Athletic Bilbao,” he told Spanish newspaper Marca. “In the end, when you want to prove that you love something or someone, you do so through your daily actions. You have to prove it every day.”

That line could have been a slogan. Instead, it sounded more like a vow.

“I Will Not Leave This Place”

Simón is clear: his future is not for sale. Not at 50 million. Not at 150 million. Not at all.

“I will not leave this place. Even if someone came and paid the release clause value of 150 million, I still would not leave. I don't want to leave,” he said.

There was no theatrical pause, no caveat about “football being unpredictable.” Just a brutal honesty that fits the club he represents.

The only scenario in which he walks away is the one that hurts him most.

“If Athletic Bilbao tell me next season that they don't want me to continue, I'll pack my bags and go, despite the intense pain that will accompany it,” he admitted. “But as long as the club wants me to stay here, I won't move from my place.”

That is the core of his relationship with Athletic: they decide, he accepts. Not the market. Not an agent. Not an auction.

Copa del Rey Above the World

Simón is a World Cup winner. He knows what the summit of the professional game looks like. He has lived the parades, the tributes, the global spotlight.

And yet, when he weighs those moments against what he experienced with Athletic in the Copa del Rey, the scales tip heavily towards home.

“There's no comparison between the Copa del Rey celebrations and the World Cup celebrations,” he said. “For me, the five days I lived after winning the Copa del Rey alongside my friends, those close to me and my team-mates, are nothing at all like the tribute I received after the World Cup, which, on a professional level, represents the highest any player can reach.”

Professionally, the World Cup is the peak. Emotionally, it barely gets a look-in next to the red-and-white of Bilbao.

The difference, for Simón, is not medals. It is intimacy.

“But in terms of passion, and the feelings you give to people or that people make you feel, the matter is completely different, at least for my surroundings,” he explained.

Those five days after lifting the Copa del Rey were not just a celebration; they were a revelation. A confirmation that his career and his life are anchored in the same place.

“Those five days were among the most wonderful days of my life,” he said, highlighting how the journey through the city left a mark that no global trophy could match. The title party reached its peak on the water, in a scene that felt almost mythical to him: “They were completed in exceptional fashion with the trophy celebration procession aboard the traditional boat, which was stunning.”

A World Cup with Spain on one side. A Copa del Rey with Athletic on the other. Simón has lived both. His heart has chosen.

In a football world that rarely waits, he has planted his flag and made it clear: as long as Athletic want him, Unai Simón is not going anywhere.