Tottenham Hotspur striker Alejo Veliz joined La Liga club Espanyol on loan this summer.
The 20-year-old Argentine attacker will look to get his career back on track with regular football and he will hope to continue his development as well. Veliz seems to be enjoying his time at the Spanish club.
The striker has now revealed why he chose to join Espanyol this summer. The manager of the Spanish club Manolo Gonzalez was the driving force behind the transfer and the 20-year-old is enjoying his time under his management.
He said on La Grada Radio: “The main reason why I am here is González. I came from a loan at Sevilla where I didn’t have the opportunity to contribute or show myself, I had stressed to my agent that it was a very important step for me because personally and psychologically I wasn’t having a good time, we could not fall lower than what we were,” he said.
“I told my representative that a coach should say that he wanted me on his team. As soon as Espanyol came out, two days later the coach called me, I was with Tottenham in Japan for the pre-season, he told me that he had seen me a lot and that I was the player he wanted, that he saw a very good future in me. I told my girlfriend about it and she told me it was what we were looking for. When I ended the call, I contacted my agent and insisted, ‘it has to be here’.”
Veliz has previously had a loan spell with Sevilla, but he struggled for regular game time at the Spanish club. It was an unsuccessful move for him, and he wanted to join a club where the manager would show complete faith in his ability and give him the opportunities to showcase his qualities.
The striker is highly rated in South America and he needs regular football in order to continue his development. There is no doubt that he has the attributes to develop into a top-class goal scorer in the near future. The exposure at Espanyol could do him a world of good.
Tottenham will certainly be hoping that he can continue to impress at the La Liga club and return as a better player next season. They need more quality and depth in the attacking unit and the 20-year-old could compete with Dominic Solanke for the starting spot.
