Aston Villa defender Andres Garcia has revealed his delight over joining the club, and is itching to get started under Unai Emery.
As per the club’s statement this week, the 21-year-old sealed his move from Levante to become our second signing of the January transfer window, following on from the arrival of Donyell Malen.
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The right-back position has proven to be problematic for Villa in terms of having competition for Matty Cash, and Garcia will now hope he’s capable of pushing the Polish international for a starting berth, and impressing Emery with his ability to adapt and play in his system and preferred style of play.
It remains to be seen if Kosta Nedeljkovic now departs on loan as this swoop from Villa seemingly pushes him down the pecking order, but for Garcia, this is unsurprisingly a major move for his career having featured in the second tier of Spanish football prior to his switch to Villa, and he sounds ready for the challenge.
“I think it’s the dream that every footballer has, and it’s a huge step for me which I’m facing with excitement and, above all, with lots of respect towards the club,” he told VillaTV. “I would say that, (with) the qualities I have as a footballer, the traits, I think the Premier League is the ideal league for the way I play.
“To be able to achieve this at only 21-years-old, it’s a really proud moment for me, as well as a challenge, and to be able to learn from the players that are here in the club is going to be really good for me, and a big step.
“There are players here with great careers, with lots of quality. It’s a challenge for me, but I’m excited to face it.
“For me, it’s a tremendous honour to be able to defend these colours, and I’m looking forward to the moment to be able to do that.”
Naturally, working under Emery will have been a key factor in his decision to join us, while the presence of compatriots both in the squad and coaching staff as well as several players who can communicate in Spanish with him will hopefully significantly help with his settling-in process.
The club will undoubtedly look to make him feel as comfortable as possible as he looks to integrate both on and off the pitch, and the hope is that Villa have added a real talent with plenty of potential to fulfil, who can go on to become a key figure in the squad for many more years.
In the short-term future, he’ll look to put pressure on Cash in the second half of the season to earn a more prominent role, but Villa have moved to address a problem area this month, and it’s hoped that they’ve landed the ideal solution to improve us and to help make us increasingly competitive in the long run, with Nedeljkovic still in contention too.
“He (Emery) is a coach I’ve been following for a long time, because he has an amazing career,” García added. “He’s been with various Spanish teams, which has allowed me to watch some of his games with his previous clubs, like Sevilla and Valencia. I’ve seen lots of him.
“He’s a coach that teaches his players a lot, full of determination. When he has an idea, he won’t stop until he fulfils it.
“And I think we have things in common, especially how we work, so I think he’s going to be a coach that teaches me a lot, and I’m excited to play my part, of course.
“To be surrounded by Spanish people, especially to be able to communicate, is really important.
“I spoke to Pau, we were speaking to him. We asked him what the city was like, what the club was like, and he told us it was wonderful.
“Knowing these kind of things, and knowing that Unai’s coaching staff speak Spanish, it was a no brainer. I said this was the best option from the start.”
