La Liga feature: Athletic Bilbao's Unai Vencedor is making it big

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Bengaluru, October 29: For many youngsters who outgrow their club's B team and who are ready to make the step up to senior football, there is a need for patience. But, with Unai Vencedor, that has not been the case. Not at all.

When the midfielder made his debut for Athletic Bilbao's first team in a match against CA Osasuna in the 2019-20 season, they won a free-kick in a promising position.

Stepping up to take it was the 18-year-old Vencedor, so confident was he and so trusting were his team-mates. He may not have scored, but his curled free-kick struck the crossbar so hard that the woodwork rattled for several minutes.

The fans at San Mames knew they were witnessing the arrival of a player who was there to stay.

Born in Bilbao, Vencedor spent almost a decade learning the game at Santutxu Fútbol Club before joining the Athletic Bilbao's youth academy at Lezama. Immediately, he stood out to his new coaches and his rise to the first team was rapid, with the academy coaching staff well aware that there would be no looking back once he made his debut in senior football.

In the 2020-21 season, especially in the second half, Vencedor fulfilled that prophecy. Already, he was earning minutes as a teenager under Gaizka Garitano.

But, the arrival of Marcelino as coach in January of 2021 saw Vencedor become a starter and one of the first names on the team sheet. With Marcelino playing a 4-4-2, it became a matter of Vencedor plus one more when the tactician selected his double pivot partnership each week.

Just one month after Marcelino's arrival at the club, the new coach had convinced the board to tie the talented youngster down to a longer-term contract. Not that the board needed much convincing.

They too were well aware of how talented the academy graduate was and, in February of 2021, Vencedor and club president Aitor Elizegi put pen to paper on a new deal that runs until the summer of 2025.

On the pitch, Vencedor continued to impress and he also stood out during last summer's pre-season workouts. Known to be a serious professional and a hard worker, the midfielder proved that he is already ready to be one of the club's most important players in 2021-22, even though he is still only 20 years of age.

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So far this season, Vencedor has featured in all 10 of Bilbao's matches and he has started nine of them. Curiously, the only game which Vencedor did not start this season was their only defeat so far, the 1-2 reverse at home to Rayo Vallecano when he only played the final 20 minutes.

The Basque midfielder has also started all four of the Under-21 European Championship qualifiers that Spain's U-21s have played this term, all four of which have been victories.

There have been calls for Vencedor to be given a chance with the senior Spain squad too and it surely would not be long before Luis Enrique considers naming the youngster in a squad.

Whenever Vencedor does make the senior Spain squad, there would not be any looking back. Just as at his club, this is not a player who needs to be eased in. This is a player with the confidence to take free-kicks on his debut and to become an immediate starter.