One of the main expectations for tomorrow's game against Villarreal will be the debut of Julián Álvarez. The Argentine striker will be the big news in Simeone's list of players for the league debut. Obviously, the former Manchester City player was going to be one of the obligatory questions at the press conference that took place this morning.
Julián Álvarez has not been able to play any friendly matches, having joined the club late after playing in the Paris Olympics . However, the excitement he has generated among all the fans for this season is unquestionable. For this reason, Simeone has not hesitated to send him a clear message from the press room to motivate him and to help him show his best level.
Compliments to Julian Alvarez
The signing of the Argentine is, for price and sporting context , one of the most important in the history of Atlético de Madrid. Julián Álvarez is already a champion of everything both with his national team and at club level, being a highly sought-after footballer. Therefore, the fact that he has chosen to join the red-and-white team has caused expectations to grow exponentially for this campaign.
In this way, the Argentine's adaptation was an obligatory question for Simeone in the run-up to tomorrow's match against Villarreal. "He arrived recently, he has had four training sessions ," he began by explaining, to clarify that "he is adapting, he has played in the Copa América and the Olympics and had little rest." In addition, he did not hesitate to assess his adaptation to the club, explaining that "all the characteristics he has are close to Atlético's DNA ."
Finally, he praised the position Julián Álvarez has been able to reach thanks to his performance over the last few seasons. "He has earned an important place and hopefully we can form a team that will help us with his characteristics ," said Simeone to finish his analysis. The footballer has been seen to be very integrated with the rest of his teammates, showing that his adaptation is being very fast.
Bench opportunity
Taking into account the latest tests carried out, everything points to the fact that the new signing from Atlético will start as a substitute. Simeone has been able to give many more minutes in friendlies to other forwards such as Antoine Griezmann , Ángel Correa or Alexander Sorloth . With all this, as they are players with more pace, they aim to be starters at La Cerámica , while Julián Álvarez will wait for his opportunity on the bench.
Simeone himself had already stressed that the striker had completed few training sessions while waiting for his transfer to be finalised. Even so, it is logical that Julián Álvarez will have minutes tomorrow, making his debut in front of his home fans next Sunday in the match against Girona . Before that, he will be able to greet his new fans this Wednesday during the joint presentation that will be held open to the public.