Archive: When Walsall unearthed a Spanish gem with Zigor Aranalde
Zigor Aranalde had big shoes to fill upon his arrival at Walsall at the turn of the century.
Gino Padula spent just seven months at Bescot, but became an immediate hit with supporters, and was named player of the season in 1999/2000.
His departure following relegation to the third tier rocked the Saddlers, but former director of football Paul Taylor had unfinished business on the transfer front.
“Aranalde had been at the club two years before during pre-season,” Taylor recalled. “He’d been at Logrones and I had watched him in quite a few games. The Segunda A and B divisions were littered with hidden gems.
“Zigor was one of them but we couldn’t agree a contract. Gino (Padula) got nicked off us at the end of the season and he went to Wigan. We got Zigor back in and we got the deal done after a couple of games during pre-season.”
