COMMENT: So what does English football have against Real Sociedad and San Sebastian? For years now, we've had ex-players and pundits 'urging' England's best young players to test themselves abroad. Widen their football education, they say, bring what you learn to the national team.
But when we have a talented lad like Danny Ings, the Burnley striker, in talks with Real Sociedad and seriously contemplating a move to San Sebastian, these same commentators preach the opposite. With Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham also in the frame, Ings is being encouraged to reject a move abroad and stay in England.
You can understand the protests of Clarets manager Sean Dyche and local legend Robbie Blake. After all, if Ings, off contract in June, signs for La Real, Burnley will be due £200,000 in compensation. However, moving within the Premier League would bring £3-5 million to the club.
The crazy thing is that the source of Ings' interest in La Real actually comes from inside Turf Moor. But more on that later.
Outside Burnley, there's nothing like the derision that's come from Dyche "the middle of La Liga is no use for a young player" nor Blake "it wouldn't further his career". But presented with the prospect of an England young gun chancing his arm abroad, there's been a distinct lack of enthusiasm from the media's ex-players brigade.
Why? La Real looks an ideal destination for Ings. Under David Moyes, he'd find the football at the Anoeta not dissimilar to Dyche's system with Burnley. The club is on a sound financial footing and president Jokin Aperribay has ambitions of finishing in the Champions League places next season.
Moyes has already confirmed his interest in bringing Real Madrid midfielder Asier Illarramendi back to the club. There's whispers of beating PSV Eindhoven to a loan deal for Manchester United winger Adnan Januzaj. And Aperribay stated only last week they're under no pressure to sell.
There's the realistic prospect of Ings lining up alongside Carlos Vela in attack, ahead of a midfield consisting of Januzaj, Illarramendi, Sergio Canales and Xabi Prieto. Outside Real Madrid and Barcelona, that's as competitive a six as any in La Liga.
Furthermore, thanks to Ings' Bosman status, he would arrive without carrying the weight of a heavy price-tag. But he'd join La Real as a Moyes first-choice, with either Vela, or the bustling Icelandic centre-forward Alfred Finnbogason, playing alongside him.
Dyche branded La Real a mid-table club. But that's this season. Indeed, they're sitting seventh on the table just outside the Europa League places. Ings will be joining a squad being built to challenge for the top four. And if they fall short, unlike in the Premier League, La Real will throw everything at winning the Europa League.
Ings will experience the sort of competitive, demanding European football he'd only receive playing in the Champions League with an English club.
As he's stated himself, at 22, Ings wants to be playing regularly and developing his craft at this stage in his career. The odds of achieving that are much shorter in Spain than accepting a move to a top four Premier League club.
So why La Real? The Moyes connection is obvious. But even before the Scot took charge, Ings had San Sebastian on his mind.
One of the two senior physios at Burnley is Pablo Sanchez, a native of Donostia, who has raved about the city to Ings. Sanchez, who coached in Donostia, has been living in England for the past eight years and was made senior physio at Burnley last January.
He and Ings have become close and it's understood Sanchez helped the striker organise his trip to the Anoeta earlier this year for talks with Moyes about a pre-contract.
So for the Burnley No10, the La Real option hasn't come out of the blue. San Sebastian has been on his mind for some time.
If he does choose La Real, unlike those who've so easily dismissed the option, he will have done so after careful examination. This isn't about money, as Dyche claims, La Real would be a great destination for Ings to further his career.
