Werder Bremen: Malatini transfer fixed – trouble for national coach Mascherano

Valdez should help with integration

Werder Bremen have confirmed the signing of defender Julián Malatini. The 22-year-old from Argentina signed with the Weser, apparently leaving his club Defensa y Justicia somewhat hastily and, at the same time, antagonized the Argentine U-national coach Javier Mascherano. The club did not disclose how long Werder had tied up the variable defender.

“After Amos Pieper was out for a long time, our goal was to expand our defense,” said Werder official Clemens Fitz. “With Julian, a promising, promising player is joining us who we have been observing for a long time and who can be used both in central defense and on the right side. We are pleased that we managed to make the change happen in the winter.” After the Malatini transfer has been finalized, Nicolai Rapp will, according to “Sky“received approval for a move to Karlsruher SC. The 27-year-old therefore agrees with the second division club.

Malatini’s unexpected departure was not well received by Argentina’s junior national coach Javier Mascherano because the young professional unilaterally removed himself from the squad for a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Venezuela that began on Saturday. Opposite “DSportsThe former Barcelona professional said: “Everyone has the right to make the decision they want. (…) I can’t understand the decision Julián made and I’ll tell him that too. (…) I don’t understand why they didn’t warn us that they were in the middle of negotiations. That bothered me the most.”

Fritz: Malatini will need time to get used to it at Werder – Valdez should help

Fritz added in a club statement on Tuesday: “The impressions we were able to gather from Julian are very promising. Julian is a tall defender who has good basic speed and tackling strength and has great development potential. I look forward to working together.”

The Werder official also dampened great expectations of the young player: “Julian is in Europe for the first time. Therefore, he will need a certain amount of time to get used to Bremen and the team.” One measure to better integrate Malatini will be for ex-professional and U23 assistant coach Nelson Valdez to initially join the Bundesliga coaching team. Team strengthened. Fritz explained: “Nelson once walked Julian’s path himself and can therefore pass on his experiences to him. He should be his contact person on and off the pitch to make it easier for him to arrive in Bremen and integrate into the team.”

Malatini said: “For every footballer in South America it is the dream to play in Europe. After I heard about Werder’s interest, it was immediately clear to me that I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. The Bundesliga is one of the biggest leagues in the world. I can’t wait to get on the pitch for the first time.”

Werder new signing Malatini “needs more self-confidence”

Scott Christensen, Argentina area manager at Transfermarkt, explains to Malatini that the player “is somewhat similar to Juan Foyth from Villarreal FC. Maybe not so much tactically, but in terms of being a tall centre-back who has been used as a full-back for a significant period of his career. In my opinion he is more of a central defender. He is strong and, with his height, very good at long balls.”

“In my opinion he is a good player, but not a great player,” Christensen continued. “He had a mixed start at CA Talleres, but the club was going through a difficult period at the time he played, so it wasn’t easy for a young player. He was then loaned out to Defensa y Justicia and later signed permanently – a club that can find and train talent.”

For Christensen, the move to Bremen seems quite logical and promising, especially since bigger talents from Argentina are usually courted by bigger clubs from Europe. “I think he is a player who can still improve a lot. He needs more self-confidence and will gain in quality and charisma as he gets older.”

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