Espanyol manager Manolo González has backed Tottenham youngster Alejo Véliz for a bright future, despite something of a rough introduction to life in La Liga.
Mundo Deportivo cover comments from the Espanyol boss today during a press conference, in which he was asked specifically about Veliz.
The 21-year-old is spending the season with the Spanish side after joining from Tottenham in the summer, where he was not a part of Ange Postecoglou’s immediate plans.
He’s already played his football in Spain before after spending the second half of last season at Sevilla, although that turned out to be something of a disaster as manager Quique Sanchez Flores basically ignored him.
The picture is different at Espanyol, where he’s already established himself as a first-team regular, making six appearances, bagging one goal and featuring in 77% of the available minutes to date.
It’s not been an easy introduction to Spanish football for the Tottenham youngster, who has been given a rough ride by the more experienced defenders he’s already come up against.
González was asked about that today but insists it’s nothing to be concerned about and thinks the Tottenham youngster is set for a bright future regardless.
“Alejo is fine. He is very young, has a great career and that is the way he competes,” he said.
“He makes the centre-backs uncomfortable; he wins many duels, he creates a lot of second chances…
“He goes out to compete and is focused on having a good year. In that aspect he is mature, you can see that he doesn’t protest too much.”