Now people have realised who Marcos Llorente is LaLiga Santander - Real Madrid MARCA are with the player's father and uncles

They have nothing but grey hairs rather than the blond and shiny fringe of Real Madrid's midfielder.

But in their day, they also looked young and played for Los Blancos.

One pair, Paco and Julio, on the pitch, the other, Jose Luis and Tonin, on the parquet floor.

They are the Marcos Llorente's father and uncles, in turn nephews of Paco Gento, a family tree whose roots could be born from the same Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

They meet at a social gathering with MARCA in the Ciudad del Futbol de Las Rozas to unveil the formula of the Llorente family, a senate of Madrid academics and sport.

Question. Marcos' situation has undergone a radical change in the last month. Did he become pessimistic about his future in Madrid?

Julio. I believe that we never think of an exit from Real Madrid. At least not me. What I did have very clear is that Marcos sooner or later was going to convince the club. Now in this short period of four or five games he has convinced them. At least he has shown himself and people have realised, even though he had already demonstrated it at Alaves, who Marcos is. If it had not been now it would've been later, in three months or five or a year, but Marcos would have got there in the end. If it wasn't at Madrid, somewhere else. In the end he would've been able to show people what he is capable of in a big club.

Jose Luis. We were sure that, after he had the opportunity, he would convince everyone. We've played at the highest level and we know what is required, so someone with Marcos' characteristics would certainly play sooner or later.

[Julio is Marcos' agent and in the following speech he suggests that in the winter an exit was required].

Julio. I thought he would have to leave again to re-enter their thoughts.

Tonin. I had my doubts. It had been a long time, a year and a half, and he had played very little.

Jose Luis. Well, he has played two or three good games.

Tonin. Yes, of course, now anything can happen, but he has already shown that Madrid's shirt does not weigh heavily on him, that he can play equally well in the Champions League.

Julio. In the short term, we were pessimistic, but we knew that in the long run...

Tonin. He knew how to be prepared in a game that was key. He's grabbed the bull by the horns at a very important moment in his career. That has a lot of merit. And now we have few doubts.

Here is the complete video:

Julio. Now the whole world of football and Real Madrid know that they can trust Marcos. He's in a very important position and showed what he could do at Alaves. He played with the same calmness as against Roma. That says a lot about him and I think he's going to continue his whole career proving he's a player with a bomb-proof mentality.

[Paco, his father, who knows him best, is the one who speaks least]

Paco. Technically and tactically, he's gifted. His sacrifice on the field is more like Julio, I had less character in the game.

Julio. He's a lot like us mentality wise, he has incredible mental strength. We were the same, no matter what happened in our day to day training it was something that we never let go of. And Marcos has shown that, despite having played almost no games, he can make a big step up to the Champions League. He's a player with technical conditions that for me, Paco and I didn't have. Technically, he's very good, especially the control of the ball and the ability to get out of complicated situations.

Jose Luis. Did Paco not get out of complicated situations?

Julio. But through speed, not technique.

Jose Luis. Technique too, remember the plays when he went past two and three defenders.

Paco. They were different situations.

Julio. I speak of a general technical level. Marcos is a little superior to us.

Paco. I agree.

Paco, when did you realise that Marcos could be a professional?

Paco. He played very little, but that has also helped him to take his chance. Getting to this point has always cost him, since childhood, because not everything has been a bed of roses.

Jose Luis. Marcos is like them [Tonin and Paco], who developed late. And it cost them. 'They are small, they are short, they lack strength, they will not arrive,' is what was said. And then look.

Paco. In team sports you never know. Marcos, when he was in the last year of the youth set up, already saw ways in which he could make the senior side. But to make the jump is difficult, you can foresee it but it isn't easy.

Julio. I saw it. When Fernando Morientes was in charge of the U19B side, they put him in midfield. He told me one day 'I am putting your nephew as midfielder,' because Marcos was a wide player before that. It caught my attention and I went to see him in a friendly match at Valdebebas the day after he told me. I saw it and it surprised me. I realised that Marcos could have an interesting professional future.

The most personal test about Marcos

Does Marcos not feel pressure?

Tonin. He's pretty quiet. He is not impressed by external circumstances when he starts playing football. And mix that self-confidence with knowing that you have to keep working to improve every day. It's so bad to believe you are worse than you are. Marcos has a fairly balanced conception of what he is as a player, because he has room for improvement, he knows and we all know it.

Julio. He is mentally very strong, he shows it in every training session every day. Despite the situation he was in, he never gave up. What Tonin says, even if it's an extreme situation, vital for him, he doesn't get nervous. When it comes to execution, he won't take a step back.

Tonin. Wednesday against CSKA I had a supporter behind me at the Bernabeu, I do not know who he was, and he said: " ..., it seems like this guy has been in Madrid for 10 years." Marcos has a tranquility and a way of seeing things.

Jose Luis. Tonin said it before, his balance in the end is humility. Here we have all gone through processes where things have gone wrong, and we know very well what this is. In sport one day you are up and the next...

[We were slow to include in the gathering two essential legends of Madrid and, above all, of the Marcos family]

Tonin. Marcos has had an advantage that we had too. In our family the ancestors [nephews of the Gento brothers, Paco, Julio and Tonin] were also athletes. His whole environment has meant that Marcos has experienced his situation with great normality, starting with his father. That we have not given more importance to it than what it really has. You are a footballer, you are good and you play in Madrid... As happened to Paco, Julio or Jose Luis. His father played in Madrid, his grandfather on his mother's side [Ramon Grosso]... We have all experienced it normally.

Julio. It is the example we had with our uncle Paco. I remember when we were little children, that we saw Uncle Paco and no importance was given to his job at all. It seemed like it was anyone walking down the street. All this was transmitted to us, unintentionally, and we have transmitted the same feelings to Marcos.

Did you also experience your youth career with similar responsibilities to what Marcos had?

Julio. I think so.

Tonin. Not so much, but similar. They were different times.

Jose Luis. I certainly do. I trained morning and afternoon every day.

Tonin. Marcos hasn't stopped working hard every day. And we were the same in that.

Julio. And then habits outside the football field, such as rest, food, healthy life... We are the same, more or less.

The talk about feeding Llorente

And what about food? [Paco was nicknamed The Lettuce for his diet]

Paco. No, Jose Luis started with the theme of taking care of food.

Jose Luis. It's about time you let me talk about my book [Vitamin X, a reflection on life habits]. This has to do with performance, many years ago it was given very little importance in Spain. I started experimenting and I realised that it was really very important, in recovery and rest. And in the long term it will give you something better in shape. When you are in an environment that you have to give 100%, if you gain 4% or 7% or 8% in any way you have to take advantage of it. And food is something that gives that extra. For athletes it is absolutely essential to have a good diet. And the one who doesn't have that is irresponsible.

Tonin. Marcos also enjoys it. Since he was little he's seen the importance of eating well. When I took him to the nursery he would bring the food from home...

Paco. The message was to eat as healthy as possible since we were little. It's true that he once said to me "Dad, why can't we eat the same as others?

Tonin. The training mix with good nutrition and rest... Marcos sleeps a lot. They said that Indurain won the Tours at night. It's the same with Marcos, he sleeps in one go.

And where is Marcos' ceiling, how far can he go?

Jose Luis. The national team. He has a way to go, everyone can improve.

Julio. His ceiling will depend on the minutes he plays and the confidence they give him. In five games he has shown that he is a more than reliable player, that his performances have not been remarkable but outstanding. The national team? I see him more than being a starter at Real Madrid ... It will be difficult, because there is a lot of competition and they have won many titles lately. But if it's not Madrid, for whatever reason, maybe he can be at another team that is also at the top level. I see Marcos improving and getting better.

Jose Luis. He is young, and with more minutes you acquire tranquility and experience in all areas of the game. As a veteran you are better at reading all the situations, the rhythm of the game ...

And his father, who talks little but when he does, he hits the nail on the head...

Paco. He has to play.

Jose Luis. We are sure that he will achieve it. What we don't know is when.

Tonin. What is missing? Well play as before, a little better, more games... And someday go to the national team.

Jose Luis. Well, call Luis Enrique, who is a friend of Tonin!

And what team did you support when you were small?

Jose Luis. Madrid to death, everyone of us.