Carl Veart has praised the signing of Javi López and what he will bring to Adelaide United after he was officially unveiled as a Reds player on Tuesday.
The Spaniard provides loads of experience after spending the past 11 years in La Liga with RCD Espanyol.
Veart admitted the Club was lucky to have someone of López’s pedigree having played close to 300 games for Los Periquitos and even served as their captain for the last five seasons.
“I think when we announced him we said how fortunate we’re to get a player with the quality of Javi that’s played at the standard that he’s played at for such a long time,” Veart told reporters at a press conference at Coopers Stadium.
“I think especially with our younger group it’s going to be vitally important for them that they can learn from him.”
The 34-year-old’s versatility is another attribute that Veart commended, but said he has not discussed where exactly López will play.
López has enjoyed the majority of his career at right-back though is capable of functioning as a centre-back or holding midfielder.
“He has that flexibility that he can play in the defence and defensive midfield role,” he said.
“We’re not locking anything in at the moment, we’re just going to give him time to settle in, give him time to get his fitness and then we’ll have a serious look at it then.”
Veart revealed López got through the full session at his first training on Tuesday, but admitted he will still need some time before he can be up for selection.
“I’d say we’d be very unfair on him if we threw him into the deep end in the first game,” he said.
“He needs at least two weeks of training before he is available for selection, we want him to play as many games as he can over the course of the season.
“So there’s no point rushing him into the first game.”
.png)
