"All tissue is made up of cells and a matrix. The fibres of the matrix tear or break when an injury occurs and the cells have to begin working to repair this defect. Those cells respond to external stimuli, they don't know what to do unless something tells them what they have to do. Those signals that are sent to the cells are proteins called growth factors, which are in the blood. What we do is concentrate those proteins in a little plasma in order to apply them where the injury has occurred and all the cells round about begin working together thus obtaining the formation of a scar of better quality more rapidly." - Dr Sánchez's preparation of blood plasma has revolutionised the world of sports medicine. He does not say that himself. The evidence is to be found in a 'lehendakari' (title given to the president of Euskadi, the Basque autonomous region of Spain) and a dozen or so elite athletes who cannot be kept out of an interview in which the "miracle doctor" reveals step by step the reasons for the success of a treatment required by persons as far apart as the Brazilian football player Adriano and King Juan Carlos. Signed and dedicated photographs of (ex footballer and 'lehendakari) Gaizka Toquero, his fellow footballer Jesús Navas, and of Rafa Nadal stand in a glass display case in Sánchez's consulting room. "Respect" and "Affection" are the words most repeated in the dedications. That is how the land lies. - I see a photograph of Gaizka Toquero with a dedication to you in the display case. Have any other 'lehendakaris' been here? "Yes. All of the 'lehendakaris' Garaikoetxea, Ardanza, Ibarretxe... but not Patxi López. He must be healthier. (laughs)" - You have a cram packed agenda and many well known personalities pass through your hands. Come clean. Who was the last sports star who was in this room? "You have a fair number of them there (points to display case)." - The very last one? "The last keeps on being Rafa Nadal. Basketball players like Calderón, footballers like Navas, Perotti and Lafita, cyclists such as Joseba Beloki and Samuel Sánchez... However, to talk of Dr Mikel Sánchez is to talk of Rafa Nadal." - Tell me what's wrong with Rafa Nadal. "Yes, because there has also been much confusion. It's never good to speak about athletes' injuries because it's like talking about the problems with your car or how badly your central heating boiler works... But... Rafa had an injury in the quadriceptal tendons of both knees when we first met him in 2010. He had been having treatment for a long time that had not been effective and the treatment with growth factors returned them (his tendons) to their previous state, it healed those tendons and he returned to playing at his previous high level. He got back to number one and continued with the same tremendous rhythm of work. A few months ago, he began to have pain in another tendon. It's a new injury, a degenerative injury caused by overuse, which coincided with a dental infection. We have started a treatment that needs its time. We hope it will not take as long as the one two years ago." - So it's not a relapse as some have proclaimed? "It's another injury, a new one. There's been no relapse and we're now trying to get ahead with it. There's no reason for there being any problem." - What about this infection in his teeth? "That's the bad part of elite sport, you can't go for a check-up. You're off to Australia, to the United States... They're travelling all over the world and can't get the treatment they should. It's not at all recommendable to be an elite sportsman. It's very nice but not at all recommendable for the health." - Why has he been out of action for so long? Is he recovering, resting? "For the injury he has, he's not been out of action for very long. When his new injury started, he had tournaments he had to play, he had previous commitments to meet. He couldn't stop. We (his doctors) didn't want to keep the situation going in which he couldn't be cured properly and might reach the dynamic we had two years ago. So, when his tournaments were over, we said: "Stop." - Is that the advice you gave him? "Of course. If we hadn't we would have been permanently limping. He wasn't even about to come back...."

 "Конечно.Иначе бы он даже не мог и думать о том,чтобы вернуться.... "