After uncertainty over his future at Fiorentina this summer, full-back Marcos Alonso has confirmed that he also did not know where he would be playing first-team football this season until the day the transfer window closed.
However, the 23-year-old insisted that he was always focused on making a success of his Viola career and benefited from the club sending him on loan to Premier League side Sunderland during last season.
“When the transfer window closed this summer was when I had the final confirmation I was staying with the Viola. The club had rejected offers for me and I immediately gave 100 percent,” Alonso told Radio Blu.
“My first two years in England I had a few problems, then it got better. I came to Florence without being able to play two games in a row, and I returned to England, where I immediately felt comfortable with coach [Gus] Poyet.
“Now in Florence I play more, we are also improving as a team. I appreciate working well in defence, we concede very few goals and have seen that the problem is only in attack.
“Juventus and Roma have spent so much in the transfer market and were already starting ahead of us, however, we believe that we are a strong team that can do well without the two injured key players.
“Even last year Giuseppe Rossi and Mario Gomez lost many games due to injury, and I’m the first to want to see them return to play, let’s hope they return soon.
With six Serie A appearances so far this season the Spaniard has to compete with club captain Manuel Pasqual for a spot on the left side, but believes there is little to separate him and the Italian international.
??”He is a great player with a lot of appearances in Serie A,” praised Alonso. “I am a different player with different characteristics, but none is better than the other.
“It’s never easy when you’re young and go on to play at a first-team level. It happened to me at Real, or even when I got here.
“A young man has to work to grow and accumulate the experience of an older player.”
Follow Kevin Pogorzelski on Twitter: @rabbitrabbiton
