Ange Postecoglou has been encouraged by Alejo Veliz in his early Tottenham training sessions, although the striker has no expectations on him from the manager at the moment.
The Spurs head coach revealed that Veliz has only had one week of training with the first team, before getting some minutes under his belt with the U21 side this week.
Tottenham apparently want the Argentine forward to play a couple more games with the youth side, but Postecoglou was impressed by his 30-minute cameo against Colchester.
(Photo by Luciano Bisbal/Getty Images)
Postecoglou is putting no pressure on Alejo Veliz
Veliz joined Tottenham in a £12m deal from Rosario Central this summer, but is very much seen as one for the future, rather than a current first-team option.
Football.London’s Alasdair Gold reported this week that Veliz was a handful for Colchester during his time on the pitch, and he showed great movement and physicality.
Spurs coach, Wayne Burnett also told Spurs Play: “The first team wanted Ale [Veliz] to play, it was a planned 30 minutes. You know, you can see his quality, you can see the runs he makes and he’s certainly an exciting prospect.”
Tottenham currently have Richarlison, Heung-min Son, and Brennan Johnson as number nine options at the club, so it appears Veliz may be eased into life in England.
Postecoglou said on Veliz (Football London): “To be fair to him, he’s only had one week of training. He had two sessions last week. We gave him game time for the U21s and he’s now had a full week of training. It’s great to have him on board but there’s no expectation on him.
“We need to let him settle and get him training more consistently and get him a game or two more for the U21s, but we’ve been really encouraged about how he has gone about things and watching him other night, he showed attributes, he has great movement and is a real number nine.”
Spurs Web Opinion:
Judging by the development of Pape Matar Sarr and Destiny Udogie, Tottenham will want Veliz to spend at least six months bedding into the squad, and perhaps a loan spell away from the club before actually getting first-team minutes.
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