Athletic confirmed that goalkeeper Alex Padilla will play on loan for the next six months at Pumas, with an option for both clubs to extend the loan for a further year, until 30th June 2026.

The Basque club also details that the goalkeeper's loan agreement "includes the possibility for Pumas to exercise an option to buy" the goalkeeper. The Basque side, for their part, "also reserve the right to buy back" Padilla, who last week extended his contract with the Bilbao club until 2029.

The Basque goalkeeper has been in Mexico City since last Tuesday, "where he has already passed his medical and signed for Pumas".

Padilla, 21, has played five games for Athletic's first team this season. Born in the Gipuzkoa town of Zarautz and with a Mexican mother, he has been capped three times by Mexico's U-23 national team and has been called up to the senior squad on three other occasions - against Bolivia, New Zealand and Canada - although he did not make his debut.

The new Pumas goalkeeper could make his debut in the first match of the Clausura 2025 that will pit the ‘Universitarios’ against Necaxa on Sunday at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario.

January 9, 2025

Álex Padilla

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