Athletic squad shave heads in support of Yeray

Athletic Bilbao players have shaved their heads in a show of solidarity with team-mate Yeray, who is suffering from cancer.

The defender was first diagnosed with testicular cancer in December last year and had an operation to remove the tumour, before returning to first-team football in February.

However, medical checks carried out last month showed that the disease had returned and the 22-year-old immediately began chemotherapy.

The rest of the first team have pledged their support to the Spain Under-21 international and other cancer sufferers across the world by agreeing to shave off their hair.

Athletic stars Iker Muniain and Aymeric Laporte each shared messages of support on Twitter before the club posted the pictures via their own official account.

Midfielder Oscar de Marcos later said at a news conference: "This is not only for Yeray but for all those people who suffer from this disease. You see that here they have support."

Yeray is expected to be out of action for three months while undergoing treatment, meaning he will miss the start of the 2017-18 LaLiga season.