Miguel Almiron is ready to do himself justice if he is handed a full Newcastle United debut this weekend, according to his team-mate Isaac Hayden.
Having made his Magpies debut as a second-half substitute in the 1-1 draw at Wolves, Almiron is set to be handed a starting spot in tomorrow’s home game with Huddersfield Town.
The club-record signing has spent the last two weeks integrating himself into Newcastle’s first-team squad, with the recent warm-weather training camp in Spain having provided an opportunity to get to know his new team-mates at close quarters.
Those team-mates have been impressed with what they have seen, and expect Almiron to take the switch to English football in his stride. Having impressed in Paraguay, Argentina and the United States, and earned 14 senior caps for the Paraguayan national side, the 25-year-old should not be fazed by the prospect of taking on a Huddersfield side who have spent the majority of the season rooted to the foot of the table.
“He’s been top drawer in training,” said Hayden, who will hope to retain his starting spot in midfield tomorrow despite the availability of Jonjo Shelvey, Mo Diame and Ki Sung-yueng. “Especially for him, coming from a foreign country - and especially the MLS - it’s a completely different level.
“For him to come on against Wolves, he was a bit of a livewire and he showed what he could do. There was a strong tackle put in on him and I turned to him and said, ‘Welcome to English football’. He got up and was just smiling away.
“You can see in his eyes that he is really enjoying it, all this experience. He will get better and better, and I think he’ll be a great asset to Newcastle.
“I’d seen a few clips of him on YouTube so we had an inkling of what he was about, but credit to him. He was sticking himself about against Wolves, he digs deep, tracks back and tackles. If he keeps doing that, as well as bring stuff in attack, he’ll be great for this club.”
Almiron will have to prove he can handle the rough-and-tumble of life in the Premier League, but Benitez did not persuade Mike Ashley to shell out £20.7m because of the midfielder’s combative qualities.
His creative abilities made him stand out in the MLS, enabling him to finish last year as the American top-flight’s Player of the Year, and while Rafael Benitez will need him to fit into his St James’ Park system, he will be afforded a fair amount of attacking freedom if, as expected, he fills the ‘number ten’ role that has proved so problematic to the Magpies in the last few years.
“It’s difficult because we haven’t really got players who can make the difference by themselves, we’re more a team who work hard and stick to the game plan and help each other out,” said Hayden. “Stick together, stuff like that.
“We maybe need someone who is more of a dribbler with some extra pace, they can maybe make the difference. Playing off Ronny (Salomon Rondon) too, it will make a massive difference and all the players that can get off him up front will cause damage.”