Barakaldo is considering not renewing its agreement with Athletic, which would bring an end to a long-standing relationship between the two clubs. This scenario, while potentially surprising externally, is not unexpected internally. The president of Barakaldo's Board of Directors, Ricardo Arana, had already hinted at the possibility of not continuing as an affiliated club during the Shareholders' Meeting last December, unless the current terms of the agreement were improved to benefit the Ezkerraldea club.

Athletic is aware of Barakaldo's expectations, and the latter hopes this dialogue process will conclude positively. If no common ground is found in the initial negotiation phase, the current positions of both parties are far from reaching a new consensus document.

The management of the yellow-and-black entity, which competes in Group I of Primera RFEF and has strong aspirations for a play-off spot to LaLiga Hypermotion, is proposing new parameters in discussions that are expected to be challenging. A similar situation occurred three years ago, when the signing of Endika Buján, a promising talent from Barakaldo's academy, by Athletic caused controversy among fans.

It is worth noting that Athletic, which is keen on renewing the agreement, also acquired players from Barakaldo last season. In the January 2025 transfer window, they secured the services of Maroan Sannadi, who was playing at Lasesarre on loan from Alavés. In that transaction, Alavés received four million euros, while Athletic compensated Barakaldo with 300,000 euros, 100,000 of which were used for the urgent signing of Alex Valiño.