Ole, Aloisi lures Spanish winger
MARCO MONTEVERDE former Castellón, Racing Santander, Rayo Vallecano, Recreativo and Mallorca player was keen to investigate.
Arana was quick to get in contact with Dimas, the Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder whom he played alongside at Recreativo.
“Dimas explained to me everything about Australia, that the level of football here is better than America and the country is really beautiful, so I was interested,” Arana said.
When he discovered that Socceroos stalwart and former Alaves and Osasuna striker Aloisi was Brisbane’s coach, it was icing on the cake.
“I knew about John and knew he was a really good player,’’ Arana said. “John also speaks fluent Spanish, so I thought if I move to Australia, at least John can translate everything for me, I can understand things and it can make my job easier.’’
Aloisi has no doubts Arana will have an impact once he regains fitness after three months training by himself after the end of his Mallorca contract.
“I watched him play for Mallorca last season and also spoke to people in Spain that I knew,” the Roar coach said. “He can score goals, he’s direct, he’s quick.
“He’s going to fit our way of playing, but also our culture, and that’s important.
“We want to have players firing on all cylinders when they play and I’m sure that once he’s ready, he’ll be good.
“It’s important that we have competition for places and players that are going to push each other.’’