Spanish starlet Hernandez talks RSL debut, fan support and Al Ittihad title focus | OneFootball

A statement addition to the Roshn Saudi League in January, Unai Hernandez was made to wait a little while for his debut.

Maybe that was to be expected. Hernandez, who starred this season for FC Barcelona's reserve side, had made the transition from teenager to 20-year-old merely a month before transporting from Spain to Saudi Arabia.

Born in Barcelona, his move from the Spanish giants to Jeddah's Al Ittihad represented the midfielder’s first taste of professional life outside his homeland.

However, having swapped La Liga for the RSL to become one of the headline recruits in the latter's shift in emphasis to acquiring younger footballers with prodigious talent, Hernandez was finally given the opportunity to show Al Ittihad fans what all the fuss is about.

On Sunday, in the league leaders’ home clash with Al Okhdood, he was introduced at Alinma Stadium as a 76th-minute substitute, replacing Saudi winger Abdulrahman Al Obud.

For Hernandez, it was worth the wait.

"I am very happy to make my debut in this great team,” he said following the 1-1 draw. “Since I arrived, I was really eager to play, and well, it has been a tough match where we lost these points and the victory at the end.

“But we can’t relax. And we have to try to win every possible match."

Even given his tender years, Hernandez sounds already like a seasoned pro. It helps that he has not only more than a few in the Al Ittihad squad, but some of football's most decorated.

Take Karim Benzema, the club captain and 2022 Ballon d’Or. Or N’Golo Kante, a FIFA World Cup winner. Or Fabinho, like Benzema a European champion having lifted the UEFA Champions League.

Those, especially considering they’ve plotted the same path from Europe to Saudi, will be crucial to Hernandez settling swiftly. To this point, they have helped smooth what undoubtedly represents a major move.

"I feel very comfortable with my new teammates,” Hernandez said. “The fans also support me a lot, and that makes me happy and gives me a lot of confidence when I go out for those minutes."

Now with elite-level experience of the RSL, Hernandez will hope to play a role, no matter how substantial, in Al Ittihad’s intended march to the title.

As the youngster intimated, the last-gasp draw to Al Okhdood - Christian Bassogog’s 97th-minute rocket following a corner cancelled out Houssem Aouar’s opener - was clearly a set-back. Yet it can be flipped to furnish an already-driven club with fresh motivation.

“It has been a match where we were dominant, but once again, we let other points slip away at the end, just like last week when we were winning, and they equalised in the final minutes [the 1-1 draw at Al Khaleej].

"We can't relax. We know we’re a great team, and they are very strong, but we can't concede goals in the final moments.”

With 11 rounds remaining, Al Ittihad’s advantage at the summit sits at six points to second-placed Al Hilal – the reigning RSL champions – seven to Al Qadsiah in third, and then 10 to Al Nassr and Al Ahli in the two spots behind. For sure, nothing is by settled yet. Far from it.

Which is exactly why Hernandez, seemingly with a wise head on still-young shoulders, is preaching focus from now until the season’s conclusion. And that remit continues Thursday, with the much-anticipated trip to a red-hot Al Qadsiah.

“It is true that it's a good cushion of points, but you can never relax here in such tight leagues, and we know that Al Hilal are there,” Hernandez said. “Yes, it’s six points, but we need to keep a good momentum, winning games, and trying to leave the opposing team as far behind as possible."