Eibar president, Alex Aranzabal has confirmed that Gaizka Garitano will not return to his role as head coach with Eibar now back in the top flight.
Eibar were relegated on the final day of the season but they have since been reinstated to La Liga with Elche getting relegated as a result of an unpaid tax bill. Garitano resigned as soon as Eibar's relegation was confirmed but it has emerged that his contract had a clause that would have saw it automatically renew if Eibar remained in the top flight which has led to some speculation that he could return.
However, Aranzabal has ruled out that possibility, telling Marca; "I refer you to Garitano’s words. He spoke of the end of a cycle and we understand we have completed that cycle. The position of the club is that a cycle has finished and the best thing to do is to begin a new project and start from scratch. The contribution of Garitano in the last three seasons has been extraordinary. We’ve had the best cycle in the club’s history. But in football, the past doesn’t necessarily affect your future. The decision taken is what’s best for Eibar. We have to analyse what happened at the end of the season. We had a second round with 15 defeats and two wins, one of them in the last game against Cordoba."
Eibar will now continue their search for a new manager as a top flight club although Elche are appealing the LFP's decision to demote the club. Should that appeal succeed Eibar will back into the Segunda but for the timebeing Aranzabal and Eibar are in La Liga and they have to work towards the aim of building a club that can maintain that status.