Santiago Arias emerges as a valid alternative
Protagonist of a past season in which he became one of the most anticipated signings to occupy the right-back position after a tough competition with Napoli for his incorporation but did not quite reach the level that fans would have expected (33 matches in which he scored 1 goal and provided 2 assists), Santiago Arias is emerging.
Despite the tough competition posed by the signing of Kieran Trippier, who arrived as a starter from Tottenham and shone in his first weeks as a new player of Atletico Madrid, the 27-year-old Colombian international has not given up. Rather, the opposite. The former PSV player has continued to fight for an opportunity.
And when he has had it, he has not hesitated to take advantage of it. With three matches played to date, the Colombian right-back has had good performances wearing the red and white shirt. Starting against Real Mallorca (La Liga) and Lokomotiv (Champions League), Santiago Arias had the opportunity to play his first match at the Wanda Metropolitano this season against Valencia on October 19th (1-1). In this way, the Medellin native has shown to be a more than valid alternative.
The concentration of matches in the coming days (after facing Alaves today and Sevilla on Saturday, the next week's opponent will be Bayer Leverkusen in Germany), combined with Trippier's slight drop in his performance, will allow Arias to continue accumulating minutes to demonstrate his worth.