Southampton vs Aston Villa

saints / 17
exploits back home
had caught the eye of
Champions League clubs.
“I’m thrilled to be at this
club, it’s fantastic,” he
said, speaking in his
first interview as a
Saint, via a translator.
“After my first few hours
at the club facilities, I can
see how great it is and
I’m delighted to be here.
“It’s a brilliant club. I’ve
seen lots of videos about
how everything works
at the club, so that’s
what convinced me.
“I knew it would be a
challenge in my career,
so I wanted to take it,
knowing I was joining a
great club, and that’s just
what I’ve found here.”
Alcaraz has very little
grasp of English, but his
agent speaks it well, and,
more pressingly, Saints
boss Nathan Jones is
fluent in Spanish, the
language of Argentinians.
“I’ve only spoken to him
briefly. We talked about
where I’d like to play
and some other things,”
Alcaraz revealed.
“It’s really good to know
that the coach speaks
Spanish because that’ll
help me over the first
few days in terms of
understanding the way
he and his coaching staff
train and work in general.”
Among his new
teammates, Spaniard
Juan Larios is only a year
younger than Alcaraz,
while the new boy has a
compatriot in five-cap
Argentina international
Willy Caballero, both
of whom will help
him settle.
His 30-minute cameo at
Goodison Park was, by
Jones’s admission, longer
than planned, given
Alcaraz’s gruelling week
and having gone two
months without playing,
but will serve him well.
“He’ll get better,” Jones
said after the game. “I
don’t think he suddenly
pulled up any trees with
his performance today,
but he only arrived late
Tuesday night after being
stuck on the M3 and