Tonny Vilhena, the first and only reinforcement arrived to Espanyol so far in the winter market, he has been very ambitious in his coming-out as a parakeet. The Dutch attacker arrives on loan from Krasnodar until the end of the season and the Catalan club reserves a voluntary purchase option that can be executed at the end of the loan.
Vilhena ‘landes’ in a difficult moment for espanyolismo after having chained a weak start to 2022 (two defeats and a draw) and before an imminent schedule of órdago (Betis, Seville, Athletic and Barça). But the new signing arrives without fear of anything and very ambitious.
“We don’t have to be afraid of those teams because we are a good team, there is a great template. We must approach each game as a final and set ourselves higher goals because I believe there is a team to be among the top five in LaLiga”, he stated.
Vilhena has highlighted his versatility throughout the offensive line, reiterating that he does not have a preferred position to act. “I like to play in different positions, but I don’t have a favorite. I am available to the coach and wherever he needs me.” He assures that he has gone training alone and what if Vicente Moreno He sees it as necessary “I can play tomorrow against Betis, of course”.
Regarding what he can contribute to the team, he insisted that “I am an experienced player that can help the team. I haven’t met all the teammates, only some who were in the training camp. I hope to see you all in training today.”
Asked if he would like to continue once the loan period is over, he has been clear and emphatic: “Of course I would like to”. It has also revealed thate “in the summer, I was already talking to Espanyol, but it was not the right time and now it is. I am very happy here and I look forward to the future.”
He has referred to the game that Espanyol played on Tuesday against Cádiz, a duel where the parakeets suffered to scratch a point in extremis. “I watched the game and I thought the team played very well. We put ourselves in a bad situation when we scored two goals, but we showed that we can play well”, he stressed.
By last the new parakeet signing has revealed that Jhon Córdoba, who went through Espanyol and with whom he has coincided in Krasnodar, gave him very good references from Espanyol. As well as Keidi Bare with whom he also spoke about his new club.
“He told me that it is an incredible club with great fans and a stadium. He only told me positive things about Espanyol”, he concluded.