William José da Silva presented as new player of UD Las Palmas
The Brazilian forward William José da Silva was presented today as the new player of UD Las Palmas. He expressed that he chose the yellow team because of its fans and to play in the First Division, a category in which he has only played 21 minutes in a fleeting debut with Real Madrid.
The striker, loaned by CD Maldonado from the Uruguayan second division, who played last season for Real Zaragoza in the Liga Adelante, said that he is "happy to wear the Las Palmas shirt" and wants to have "a good campaign" to help achieve "the objective" of remaining in the top category.
William José scored ten goals in the 37 matches he played for the Zaragoza team, and now he does not set a number. He only promises "work" to help his teammates.
In addition, he believes he will form "a good partnership" with Argentine forward Sergio Ezequiel Araujo, who scored 25 goals last season with the Canary team.
Regarding his time with the Zaragoza team, he admitted that he started the previous season in a more defensive position than usual, "new for me," almost as a midfielder, and that didn't help him achieve better scoring records with the capital of Ebro team.
The player, who has been training alone in his country awaiting his future to be resolved, assures that he will be in good physical condition to start playing matches with his new team "in two weeks"."
The footballer arrived in Gran Canaria yesterday and was photographed with a scarf and the caption "We are in the First Division," only 42 days after losing promotion with Zaragoza precisely at the Gran Canaria Stadium, which will now be his new team's home.
From that match, played on June 21, he was impressed by the colorful yellow in the stands, which reminded him of his first match with the Brazilian youth teams in Maracanã stadium, as he acknowledged today.
Toni Cruz, the club's sports director, has emphasized in the player's presentation that they have "high expectations" for him, and that he is a "versatile" forward because he not only lives in the area but also does "many things outside of it."
The island's executive also highlighted that William José has "good passing and shooting skills" and is "appropriate" for the football "that we are going to play, or that they let us play in the First Division."
Cruz also recalled that in the loan contract, Las Palmas reserves a percentage of profit in a hypothetical future transfer of the player before the first registration deadline of the 2016-2017 season.