Diego Rico (Burgos, 1993) has not yet come close to that version at Real that he offered in the 2017/18 campaign at Leganés. He admits it openly, just like when he heard that the Donostiarra team was interested in him last summer, he almost had the trolley in hand to come, because of the thorn he had in 2018. The transfer figures that the clubs have paid for him they draw the high points and less buoyant of his career. Zaragoza signed him in youth in exchange for 25 balls to Burgos. The club received a million euros from Leganés for him. Bournemouth acquired him for 25 ‘kilos’ and Real took him in exchange for half a million, which could be one if a series of variables are met.
How has your first half year at Real been?
First of all, happy to have come to a great club. It was very hard to have such a serious injury as soon as we arrived. Now, I am very well, we are having a very good season and I hope to continue like this.
Has the injury prevented you from performing at your level?
This is work based. You can be successful or not, but you have to work to give your best. I haven’t been able to give my best yet, I’ll work every day to be 100%. My best version has not arrived.
When and how do you think it will arrive?
Accumulating minutes and with work, ambition, sacrifice, effort and humility, which are the values that they transmit to us.
Have you found what you expected in Real?
Yes. I am delighted. From the first day I felt at home, luxurious. I am super grateful to the people here.
Why did you choose the Royal?
Because of ambition, because of the sports project and because of the trust they gave me, which was the same they gave me before I went to England. It is appreciated that you kept an interest in me three years later and I hope to repay the trust.
How do you remember that frustrated signing in July 2018?
I was very calm. He was still training with Leganés and it was a matter of the club and the representatives. In the end, Leganés asked for an amount very close to my clause and at that time Real couldn’t afford it and they reached an agreement with the England team.
So did you want to come to Real, in 2018?
Yes. I was willing to come to Real then, but Leganés owed me, the club I belonged to, and I had to wait for what the representatives decided. I didn’t say no to the Real, I would have been delighted and I expressed it that way, but it couldn’t be then. At the end this year it has been possible to fulfill that wish of the past.
Was that last one at Leganés the best season of your career?
Yes. It was my best season in terms of confidence, with assists and a few goals, and we also managed to save ourselves. And that we were a very humble team. In my two years there we were saved and in the second we reached the semifinals of the Cup eliminating Real Madrid. We lost against Sevilla.
When did you find out about Real’s interest in signing you?
Four days before coming. My ‘repre’ called me saying that the Real wanted me and I told him to go ahead. He told me: ‘We’re going to Spain, to the Real’. And that was how long it took me to pack my bags, the PCR tests and the covid procedures to come here. Matter of days.
That felt?
Surprise and joy. I was not having a good time in England and that a club like Real, Cup champion, playing in Europe and in that phase of growth in which it is in, comes to you, I did not expect it either.
- What wardrobe has been found?
I am delighted. There are very young people from home, which means that they are doing very well. I already knew Zaldua from the time at Leganés and Willian José from when I played with him at Zaragoza. They are all very nice and friendly, they welcomed me as one more. That is appreciated, being new to the locker room.
What has caught your attention the most?
The quality of those who come from below. They show it when given the opportunity. That’s good for everyone.
Rico is from Burgos and played for the city team, but at Zaragoza they claim him as a youth squad…
I played for Burgos until I was 17 years old. And then Garitano called me to go to Zaragoza. I was going to play in the youth Division of Honor, but a week before he called me to tell me that I had to go to the subsidiary, in Second B. The pity was that on the fourth day I broke my fibula and they had to operate on me. That first year he trained in the subsidiary and played in the Division of Honor. I spent two years in the subsidiary, we went down to the second, but so did the first team to the Second Division and Paco Herrera gave me the opportunity.
In 2016 he signed for Leganés in exchange for one million euros and in 2018 they sold him for 15. What a gold mine it was for them…
That’s how it is. I was the first player sold in the entire history of Leganés. And yes, in just two years I was very profitable for them.
How was your journey in Butarque?
I was delighted those two years, the people behaved very well: colleagues, technicians, doctors… everyone. They behaved very well with my family and with my brother. A pleasant memory.
Then he signs for Bournemouth, where he arouses high expectations for his game and for his price, how did it go?
It was a hard experience, one more to make you strong and to learn to value things, know what you want in the future and be humble. It also helped me learn not to despair or give up. I didn’t and here I am.
He signed for two seasons with Real, an apparently short contract…
It was what they offered me. I really wanted to leave England, it was a unique possibility and I am thankful for it.
How do you take this season?
I want to show that I could have played more in England, honestly. But I want to do it with facts, not with words. I want to demonstrate in the Real. I want to enjoy football, which is what I haven’t done in England, to be happy playing football, which is what I like. I am already being happy at Real and it is also allowing me to be myself. That’s why I’m glad to be here and to have returned to LaLiga.
At the moment, as you say, we haven’t seen the best of your football, what is your specialty as a winger?
I consider that I have enough travel and good ball output. I try to apply the ideas that the coach transmits to us and play as a team.
Monreal is closer to coming back, Aihen is doing very well, how is the competition?
Well, the truth. It is a healthy competition. We get along really good. It is the best. It is appreciated to have competition like Aihen and Nacho and to have such good chemistry, as with everyone.
Has any impacted you because of its quality?
David Silva. There are no words to describe him. you know him It is a spectacle and a privilege to be able to work with him every day.
What is it like to work with Imanol?
He does not understand weeks of rest because it is a break in the League or to relax. Here he trains every day to the fullest. This is the Real with Imanol. We push in training to do the same in games. We seek to win the matches and the spaces in training and that competitiveness and that desire to win is seen on the days of competition.
Have you had any anger from Imanol?
Some have fallen. But it’s good, it’s to correct me.
Is the season collectively developing as expected?
We’ve had a little bad run, but it’s part of football, we knew that sooner or later it could come and that we had to keep a cool head. We knew that a victory like the one the other day would come.
Where do you see Real in May?
There is a lot left for May. What we have to do is watch the Cup match, which is the first, and in May we will see where we deserved to be. Hopefully we can win a title again, but for that you have to work hard and do it very well.