It’s very rare to see a player stay with one club for their entire career in the modern era, so it does show how special the Man United side under Sir Alex Ferguson really was.
Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville all played at the highest level for a sustained period of time, and it’s so rare to see it happen.
Athletic Bilbao are well known around the world for only using players from the Basque region – it’s a restrictive policy but it also gives them a true identity.
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They also have a very good rival in Real Sociedad who take a lot of the local talent, so it’s not like they have the pick of every player from the region too.
The Man United website have reported that Bilbao present an award for players who have served only one club throughout their career, and Ryan Giggs is the latest player to receive it.
They state the award is given to players who show values attached to the Bilbao identity, and praised Giggs for the loyalty, commitment, sportsmanship and respect he showed throughout his 23 year playing career.
He joins previous winners like Carles Puyol, Paolo Maldini and Matt Le Tissier, so it shows the type of characters that they like to value.
It’s hoped that he will be able to travel to Bilbao to receive the award at half time during a game when things get back to normal, but it’s not sure when that will be.
Certain players may be taken for granted in terms of what they achieved and gave to a club throughout their career, so it can be mind blowing when you just sit back and think about what players like Puyol, Maldini and Giggs actually achieved.