Marco Alonso believes Saul Niguez has all the right attributes to cope with the demands of the Premier League following his loan move to Chelsea.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Alonso gave the lowdown on his fellow Spaniard and why he’s already geared up for life in England’s top flight.
Saul’s only prior experiences of British opponents have been on European duty while serving Atletico Madrid.
Other than several excursions across the continent in European competition, the 26-year-old has spent his whole career in La Liga.
However, he’s set to face a whole new walk of footballing life after leaving Atletico on deadline day to join Chelsea.
Saul should be good to go
Despite his lack of prior involvement in the Premier League, Alonso predicts Saul will handle the task thanks to his specific skill set.
“I know Saul from the national team, and also we shared a manager from when we were in the Real Madrid academy,” said the defender.
“He’s a great player. His conditions are going to be good for the Premier League.
“He is strong physically, he is very good in the air, and those are things you need when you move to this league.
“He is ready to kick off and hopefully we can take advantage of his qualities and he will be of great help to the team, because it’s going to be a long year, with a lot of competitions.”
Saul could be thrown straight into the action as Chelsea host Aston Villa on Saturday.
All three of Thomas Tuchel’s central midfielder options have been away with their respective countries during the international interlude.
N’Golo Kante’s ankle injury has prevented him from featuring for France, an issue the Blues will hope is resolved quickly.
Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho, meanwhile, have started their last two international games, with the pair expected to play once more before returning to Chelsea.
In a bid not to overwork his players, Tuchel may want to call on Saul for a fresher pair of legs.
But would it be a risk sending him into the gladiator’s arena so soon? Alonso certainly doesn’t think so.
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