Villa expect big things from new arrival Jota
RICHARD O’Kelly has hailed Jota and backed the Spaniard to become a key player for Villa.
Jota made his debut as a substitute in Saturday’s
3-1 defeat at Tottenham and enjoyed an excellent pre-season following his surprise transfer from Blues.
O’Kelly, who worked with Jota at Brentford, believes the 28-year-old can take the
Premier League by storm.
“He sees things other people don’t see,” he said. “He’s got a great left foot and links with other players really well.
“He probably plays slightly differently to how we want our wide players to play all the time but the fact that he’s an intelligent footballer, he’s always got a reason why he does things.
“And he understands the defensive side of the game really well – a very good team player. I’m sure, given time, that he’ll be a big asset to us in the Premier League.”
Another player who made his debut was £15 million Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz. Douglas was made to wait for his work permit but was given the green light on the eve of Villa’s opening game.
O’Kelly added: “He took his time getting here through passports and whatever, but we eventually got him into the building last week and he showed his qualities on the ball, which we’d already seen in the scouting videos and the analysis we’d done on him.
“He’s got a desire to get on the ball, he understands the position really well, he’s very competitive, sees a pass and he came on the pitch on Saturday and showed those qualities straight away.”
John McGinn is in the
Premier League with Villa – and he’s here to stay.
The energetic Scotland midfielder made his top-flight debut on Saturday as Villa kicked off their season at Spurs. The trip to the capital ended in disappointment but McGinn, who put Villa ahead, couldn’t hide his pride after getting a taste of the action at elite level.
“I was just keen to prove I could play at this level,” he said. “You can judge me at the end of the season and see how I am then, but there’s immense pride to have played my first Premier League game.
“It has been a long journey for me to get here but I am finally here now and I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here and I want to stay with Villa.”
Villa spent big to make their squad Premier League-ready and McGinn admitted: “It’s important we managed to keep the core of the team.
“We made a lot of signings, which has been well documented, but we have managed to keep the core of the team that knows how we play and knows what we are doing.’’