He arrived at Lezama in youth from the Cultural de Durango and five years later he already has a place and number in the Athletic first team. Jon Morcillo (Amorebieta, 09-15-98) has counted for Garitano, in fact, in the nine rounds that have been disputed. His irruption in the rojiblanco team has aroused great illusion in a club used to pulling from its quarry. Attentive, therefore, to this new lion.
Do you believe what is happening to you?
Little by little. Being isolated and there are no people in the stadiums, you still don't realize where you are. You play in San Mamés, you play against those you have seen every day on TV, but you still don't know what it is to feel the stadium full, the people celebrating the goals, roaring … I'm noticing, yes, that I'm in First and in the team of my dreams.
Let's say a quick jump because he's only been in Lezama for four years …
It was two years for Basconia and two for Bilbao Athletic. Perhaps the hardest was Bilbao Athletic's first because there were many people with a lot of quality. We had a lot of competition upstairs and it was perhaps the one that cost me the most. The one with the fewest minutes, for sure.
What changed, in addition to the coach, in your second year at Bilbao Athletic?
With El Gallo (Joseba Etxeberria) I was adding minutes last season and in the end I was able to show how I am and what I can do on the field. Thanks to that good year I won the preseason in the first team by hand and in this preseason I have earned being where I am, a number, staying in the first team and now, luckily, having minutes.
But before all this, by the way, he had already done tests in Lezama and they did not select him.
I did not go through the lower categories of Athletic because I went directly to Basconia from the Cultu. As a child, it is true, I was doing tests in Lezama and they did not catch me.
Did you feel frustrated when, as a child, they told you up to two times no in Lezama?
Not frustrated. It hurt more the second time because the first time I was training with them all year long, I went two days a week. At the end of that year they told me that they had not finished seeing me yet and they wanted to see if I had just let go. Between the nerves, it is true, I was not quite myself and I could tell. They gave me another chance the second year and they also said no.
Y?
So it did hurt because you always want to be training in there (in Lezama). You gain confidence with some colleagues, Iñigo Vicente was one of them, they give you clothes, you play tournaments and you want to be one of them. But I returned to the Amorebieta and calm.
From Amorebieta he went to Cultural. Were you still waiting for Athletic's call as a youth?
The truth is that in the Cultu I didn't even imagine being able to reach Athletic because if they hadn't caught me by then … But I did two very good years in Durango and they called me. I had to go to Lezama some afternoons to play games and I was very nervous, but then I was older and I knew how to control myself better. Thanks to that, I was able to show that I had the level to be at Athletic.
Is it true that in the Cultu you played 9, as a center forward?
Yes, because the starting striker was injured and they put me. I played two good games and the coach told me that I was going to stay there. I am, yes, much more comfortable and comfortable in the band. Besides, it wasn't pure 9 because we played two forwards and I wasn't the only reference up there.
And haven't you told Garitano that you may be the 9 he's claiming?
No, no (laughing). I'm more comfortable in band.
Have you always played on the wing since you've been at Athletic?
Yes, from the moment you arrive. No forward game, always on the wing and on the left wing. In the Cultu I played right winger and in the Amorebieta too. In Athletic always on the left. The year that they have put me on the right the most has been this, with Garitano, who has put me on the odd party.
Nine league games and he has played in all of them so far.
I'm OK. I started as a starter in Granada and the coach is giving me confidence and minutes. I have to continue showing, yes, that he is not wrong. Let's see if little by little I am loosening up more, I am becoming the First and I manage to give my maximum level, which is still far away.
What differences do you notice from playing in Second B to doing it in First?
The success that Primera demands of you is much greater. When you lose a compromised ball, no matter how high you are, you know where it ends: in the end you get vaccinated. I am a physical player and I don't have much of a problem with pace or intensity, although it also shows.
Does the pressure that exists around Athletic at this start of the season also show it?
The pressure is put on by the people and the press. We, in the dressing room, are calm and aware of what we have to do. What is happening is that we cannot link two victories in a row. The first thing you see when you come up from B is that in the locker room we are all together and united.
Have you already received any signs of protest at street level?
As I do not have the weight that others have because I am a youth squad who has just arrived, I have not taken any comment that could bother me. But they will come, I am aware of it. When someone says something to me, at least until now, it is encouragement and good things.
Well, there was talk of an ultimatum to Garitano in the match against Betis.
We don't know anything about that. The dressing room is with Garitano and we trust what he does and what he tells us.
Was it the same at Bilbao Athletic?
I started getting to know him at the end of my season at Basconia, when they started raising me to train for the play-off. I have always seen him as a serious, hard-working and diligent coach. Always knowing what he is doing, with clear ideas and that is what defines him. Right now I notice him the same, very hardworking. You know where it is and what it represents.
But his explosion, let's put it like this, came last year with Joseba Etxeberria
The Rooster is the one that gave me confidence. With Garitano I linked three games in a row, I did well, and it was just when he went up to the first team. If he had stayed, he would have still had minutes. Joseba gave me confidence because I fulfilled and responded in the field