Inaki is a trailblazer.
In addition to providing support to Nico during their parents’ arduous efforts to make ends meet, he cleared the path for his brother and other immigrant sons to play for a club whose policy of only fielding players born or raised in the Basque Country meant that the team’s history was inextricably linked to the predominantly white community in the area.
The club’s first African American player to play was Jonas Ramalho, a Basque mother and Angolan father, who was 29 years old when Inaki made his debut.
Nevertheless, with over 300 La Liga appearances—including an unparalleled 251 consecutive ones—he is the first African American player to make a name for himself at San Mames.
Eight years his junior, Nico is, as Inaki put it, now “making waves in football” too. The child’s nerves these days are directed towards fulfilling his childhood ambition of sharing the largest platform with his older brother, mentor, and protector.
