Tottenham striker Fernando Llorente has paid tribute to Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde.

The pair worked together at Athletic Bilbao.

Llorente told Marca: "With Valverde I was only there for six months, but my memory is fantastic. He talks a lot with the players and he gave me great confidence. I was sorry that I did not spend more time with him."

Llorente admits his final months with Athletic turned sour.

"I guess they wanted to make an example of me to the other players, so that they would see what happens to anyone who wanted to leave, but I don't think that is the way to treat an Athletic player."