In a long interview on Sunderland AFC:s official website, Ricky Alvarez promises to be a pest to Premier League defences after the team’s coach Gus Poyet lured him to Wearside. The Argentinian national can’t wait to make his debut against Tottenham Hotspur this weekend after helping his country get a revenge on Germany in last week’s friendly. Alvarez is hoping to become a regular for his new club and more than a substitute for his country, and promises the fans to give his best. The Inter player is on loan for a season with a possible £8.5 million summer transfer if he proves to be the solution to the club’s need for creativity. This week he will be training with his new teammates for the first time after scoring 11 goals in 73 games for Inter.

On his strengths: “My strengths? I am an attacking player, the sort who likes to create opportunities, to create problems for the opposition. When our team does not have the ball I like to help defensively because that is extremely important nowadays that players know how to do both of these.”

On his new club and coach: “I am looking forward to getting underway, very keen. I am very happy to be here and it is a new challenge for me. I have had the chance to speak with Poyet on a couple of occasions and he spoke to be about his desire and how keen he was to have me here. That made me very hopeful and I can wait to get training with the rest of the squad.”

On the Premier League: “I always wanted to come to England. The Premier League is the best league in the world so the idea to come here was one I liked. I will work hard and go about things the right way.”

Alvarez played a few minutes against Germany in the 4-2 win and said: “Playing for the Argentina national side is always a dream and whenever I get the chance to do so it fills me with pride. I hope to do well here at Sunderland, to continue playing for the national side. But am I ready for Spurs on Saturday? Yes yes. I am going to be training this week with the side and if the manager decides then yes I am ready.”

Source: fcinternews.it