Yeste: Llorente speculation hurting Bilbao

Francisco Yeste believes the speculation surrounding the future of Fernando Llorente is harming Athletic Bilbao.

The striker is yet to sign a new deal at the club with his contract expiring in June 2013 and former Bilbao midfielder Yeste said the situation was not helping the La Liga side.

“Right now I’m not in the Athletic locker room so I do not know what is being experienced,” Yeste told Marca.

“(But) the way the year has started, the case of Llorente has unbalanced the atmosphere a bit.”

The Basque outfit have made a poor start to their Liga campaign having taken just 11 points from their first 10 games.

But the 32-year-old believes coach Marcelo Bielsa is still the right man for the job.

“I believe that Bielsa is very good and I don’t know that changing coaches would be the solution,” Yeste said.

“I believe that the key to overcome the crisis is to allow the coach to work and give confidence to the players. They are a young team though and experienced players have come out of this.”