Valverde, Athletic Bilbao coach, gives words of encouragement to Gomez and Djalo

Nevertheless, the midfielder must continue to persevere in his quest to secure his position.

He said, "I see him trying to find his place. He can play as a central midfielder, an inside midfielder and even on the wing because he has a lot of range. He has a lot of possibilities, but it is very difficult to make a place for himself in the team.

"He has the qualities to be important in the second line, he has a good shot, he is good with his head... Maybe he needs more calm with the ball."

On Gómez and Álvaro Djaló, he added: "They are players who have other players who are direct competition. The idea of ​​each player has to be to think that they are starters. They have to look for their position, to be important and for the coach to have to use them to be starters. They have to try to be competitive and intense. Both Álvaro and Unai have to do that, they don't have to think about who is playing in their position."