Valverde: We hope Aleña can become an important player for us
"Aleña's been playing well for a while and has earned first team place"
Ernesto Valverde praised Carles Aleña on the day he officially became a first team player. The midfielder is set to start on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey game against Cultural Leonesa.
Valverde said that "Aleña's been playing well for a while and has earned his place in the first team. We thought he would be with us this year, but because of the operation there was a setback.
"The idea was then to have him fully with the first team in January, but we moved that forward after Rafinha's injury. But [Aleña] has been with us anyway, training.
"We hope he can get more minutes and that things go as he wants, as we wants... that he can become an important player for us."
In that sense, is Wednesday's game a chance for him -- and players like Denis Suarez -- to prove themselves?
Valverde added: "People can see the game as one way or an other: an exam, a test, an opportunity, in anyway you want to see it.
"Yes, it is an opportunity for everyone, but everyone is constantly being tested: Denis, [Lionel] Messi, the coach. It's an opportunity. There is no ceasefire here, everything moves forward... We have to show who we are as a team."
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