New England Revolution Head Coach and Sporting Director Bruce Arena urges patience upon the arrival of new transfer Giacomo Vrioni, but has plenty of praise for the Italian striker.
Arena described Vrioni as “a player at 23 years old we think has a lot of potential” during his weekly visit on Zolak & Bertrand Thursday. He compared Vrioni’s arrival in New England to that of former leading goal scorer Adam Buksa, stating “we think we got a good one.”
The Revolution are hopeful Vrioni will “be here in another week or so,” depending on the Visa process, according to Arena. The head coach expects Vrioni to be used in a “reserve role in the beginning,” noting that he hasn’t played since May.
When speaking with reporters earlier this week, Arena went into deeper detail about the addition of Vrioni and the long-term outlook on the Revs.
“Giacomo [Vrioni] is a player we’ve looked at recently,” Arena said. “There were a number of players we were looking at, mainly attacking players for our third designated player position, and as we went through the process and did background work on Giacomo, it became apparent that he was going to be a very good choice for our club. And we had to go through negotiations with Juventus for a while to see if it was something we could make happen and we were fortunate, over the last couple of weeks, we could come to terms with both the club and player, and he’s here.
“He is going to play the striker position, the number nine position which was obviously occupied previously by Adam Buksa, and I think he’s a good option in that position and gives us some strength there now with Gustavo Bou as well, and Jozy Altidore, so we feel good about that. Giacomo is a left-footed player primarily, has good size, about 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, and like all players, he will take a little time to make an adjustment to our league and our club and our country and city, but we think over time he’s going to fit in here quite well.”
Mar 7, 2020; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Revolution coach Bruce Arena during the first half against the Chicago Fire at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
New England Revolution Head Coach and Sporting Director Bruce Arena joins Zolak & Bertrand every Thursday at 12:50pm during the MLS Season. You can follow the show on Twitter @ZoandBertrand or email the guys: zoandbertrand@985thesportshub.com
