Jon Morcillo has gone from being absent from Athletic to having a renewal until 2024. The man from Zornotza knows, after his loan last season in Valladolid, that it will be difficult for him to have some minutes under Ernesto Valverde. But various events in the preseason allowed the rojiblanco footballer not only to stay, but even to have a certain role in the form of minutes.
Of course, playing as a left-back and right winger in five of the six games Athletic have played so far. Considering he made his debut as a left winger, he only needs to play as a right-back to become the new Lekue and replace him as the team’s wild card. On time
What could change, what was able to change for this new situation of Morcillo? The first thing I like to think is that Valverde saw something in him that he thinks will help him throughout the season, something that Morcillo has shown him throughout the preseason and training sessions. That’s what I want to happen. And there certainly is.
At other times, that versatility could also be a point in Zornotza’s favor. It may be difficult for him to become a permanent starter, but he may have options to be a substitute for some positions and that could mean minutes for him.
And there is another theory, another circumstance, and that is not reasonable at all, and that is that the injuries on the left side could present Valverde with a serious option for Morcillo in that demarcation. In fact, he’s already played in the preseason and he’s played some minutes in the season.
With the recovery of Yuri, who did not publish Balenziaga, it is a position in which Lekue acts, with a changed leg. This is not an unfamiliar position for the man from Deusto, but it is not his natural position. A path was opened for Morcillo.
Curious world of football
The world of football and opinion is strange because last season myself, when writing about Morcillo, I titled this back cover “they call him lost”. When he was still in the squad and before he was transferred to Valladolid in the winter market. At the time, even Nico Serrano was ahead of Morcillo in Valverde’s plans.
Now it is the Navarrese looking for a few minutes in Mirandés. Soccer thing. The most remarkable thing I did last season at Athletic until the moment I wrote those lines was seeing a yellow card against Cádiz… warming up. Ledesma, the goalkeeper of the Cadiz team wanted to throw the ball, Morcillo came forward, jumped on the field, grabbed the ball and won the yellow card.
He is one of the players from the quarry with the most progression. At least that’s what the Bilbao club defends on its website. Morcillo scored ten goals in 29 games under Joseba Etxeberria in the subsidiary in the 2019–20 season, which helped him sign a contract with the first team. Then came the debut in the First Division at the hands of Gaizka Garitano.
“The goal is to return the trust they gave me in performance and on the field, so I’m very, very happy,” he said on the same day of his renewal in the company of the new president Jon Uriarte. Let’s see if he can do it. It wouldn’t be a thing on any other Thursday.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
