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Jos\u00e9 Antonio Prieto \u201cCata\u201d is now officially serving as Osasuna<\/a>\u2019s new sporting director following Braulio V\u00e1zquez\u2019s departure to Valencia. The new head of the sporting department was presented at El Sadar alongside president Luis Sabalza, who highlighted Cata\u2019s more than nine years of work within the club and argued that his appointment represents a natural transition. For his part, the new sporting director explained the principles on which he intends to carry out his new role: \u201cI want to work with sporting and financial consistency and normality and, above all, ensure that the working group can say what it thinks without having to pay a price for it afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cata also had words of appreciation for Braulio, who was in fact the person who opened the doors of professional football to him when he was still combining his job with his work as a coach in the Tercera Divisi\u00f3n. Regarding the current squad, he said he was satisfied and believes it has sufficient resources to achieve its objective, although he left the door open to possible moves in January. \u201cEvery squad can be improved and, if it falls within the financial parameters, we will be open to it,\u201d he said. His immediate priority is to consolidate a project he considers reliable and one that will allow Osasuna to continue growing in La Liga<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Among the specific issues he addressed was the situation of Ante Budimir. Cata acknowledged that the club is looking to gradually lower the average age of the squad, although he stressed that \u201cwhat matters is performance on the pitch, not date of birth,\u201d and admitted that he would like the Croatian striker to remain in Pamplona. He also pointed to \u00cd\u00f1igo Arguibide as a player destined to fill one of the team\u2019s two full-back positions \u201cin the short, medium and long term\u201d and defended the situation of Romain Del Castillo, about whom he said he was \u201cvery calm.\u201d As for the youth academy, he backed developing footballers rather than imposing a specific playing style, since he believes Osasuna must maintain its own identity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n