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

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

The club won promotion back to La Liga after a two-year hiatus, earning him a contract extension until June 2027.

Despite a recent blip that has seen his side lose two and draw one of their past three, Sarabia’s Elche side have shown their innovative, adaptive, attacking style should be more than enough to stay up.

The tendency of some promoted clubs is to set out defensively in survival mode rather than going for it. But that is not going to happen with Elche.

If they are to go straight back down – which at the moment seems improbable – they will at least go down swinging, playing their own brand of football, remaining true to Sarabia’s ethos: making fans happy.

He says: “We have a general idea and a model, but we never play the same way.”

Fundamental to his ideology is a non-negotiable demand that players should be honest in the way they compete.

He explains: “In Basque, there’s a word ‘jatorra’. There’s no exact translation, but it’s like being a good person, honest, doing it the right way.

“Not everything goes as long as you win. That’s a hallmark and something my father instilled in me – football is for clever people, but not for cheats.”

Sarabia believes football should be about more than just results, wins, or dealings in the transfer market – and focus instead on the wellbeing of a club.

“I think about the club’s growth in the short and long term,” he says.

“If I stay for life, great, but if it’s six months or three years I want to leave a legacy so the club continues to grow and improve.”