Eder Sarabia: The La Liga innovator out to prove his old club wrong

After three seasons with Gerard Pique’s FC Andorra, Eder joined second-tier Elche on an initial one-year deal.

The club was promoted to La Liga after a two-year break and earned the right to extend his contract until June 2027.

Despite the recent slump that saw his team lose two of their last three matches and draw one, Sarabia’s Elche side showed that their innovative, cohesive and attacking style was more than enough to stay afloat.

The tendency for some emerging clubs is to start out defensively rather than proceeding in survival mode. But that won’t happen in Elche.

If they are to come back immediately – which seems unlikely at the moment – they will at least come down swinging, playing their own style of football and staying true to Sarabia’s values: making the fans happy.

“We have a general idea and pattern,” he says, “but we never play the same way.”

At the core of his ideology is an unquestionable demand that players be honest when competing.

He explains: “In Basque there is the word ‘jatorra.’ It doesn’t have an exact translation, but it’s like being a good person, being honest, doing your job the right way.

“Not everything is going well unless you win. That’s a trait and something my father instilled in me; football is for smart people, but not for cheats.”

Sarabia believes that football should be more than just results, wins or deals in the transfer market and the focus should instead be on the well-being of the club.

“I’m thinking about the short- and long-term growth of the club,” he says.

“If I stay for life, great, but whether it’s six months or three years, I want to leave a legacy so that the club can continue to grow and develop.”