Athletic Club continues its strategy of acquiring young talent, now focusing on the youth ranks of Deportivo Alavés. Jason Imga, a promising young winger, will move to Lezama next season, marking another loss of talent for the Vitoria-based club. It's worth noting that his cousin, Christian Imga, followed a similar path last season.
Jason, who recently played in the U13 category but will debut as a rojiblanco in the U14s, has already visited his new training facilities. Given his abilities and age, he could have participated in La Liga Promises with Deportivo Alavés a few weeks ago, but was ultimately excluded due to various circumstances.
Certain behaviors from the young player have not been well-received at the Alavés facilities, leading him to watch his teammates from the stands. By then, his immediate future with Athletic was already largely decided, a situation that has negatively surprised some of the youth academy officials at the club, who had expected him to accept their renewal offer.
Regardless, Jason Imga becomes the fourth player from Alavés' youth system to join Lezama in recent months. A year ago, Athletic signed two of Imga's teammates, also in the U13 category: one forward and another winger. Both have debuted this season as U14 players for the rojiblancos and will now reunite with Jason at Lezama.
The aggressive transfer policy among the youth academies of Basque clubs continues to intensify. Deportivo Alavés experienced this firsthand last season when two of their U13 players moved to Athletic and a goalkeeper to Real Sociedad. In March of this year, the club reacted by securing two other players from the same category who had been attracting the attention of neighboring teams.
