Thailand's Teerasil to wear No 18 jersey at Almeria
Thai striker Teerasil Dangda, who joined Almeria on a one-year loan, will wear No 18 jersey during the Spanish La Liga season, which begins next month.
The 26-year-old has an option of making his loan move from Thai Premier League outfit Muangthong United permanent depending on his performance this season.
Teerasil, who had a short stint with Spanish champions Atletico Madrid last year, said he chose No 18 even though he had never used the number in his career before. He made the decision to avoid excessive pressure, he added.
“Actually, I don’t care much about my shirt number. My priority is to play for the team. When the club asked which number I wanted, I chose No 18, which was available. The number was a bit weird for me as I never used it during my time in Thailand.
“I opted not to select No 9 or 10, which was initially available as well, because I don’t want to shoulder too much pressure,” said Teerasil.
Having been in Spain since the last week of June to begin pre-season training, the Thai forward described his current situation at the club as a “learning process.”
“The first thing I did here was to improve my physical conditioning. It is getting better and better but I am still not fully fit. After this, I would be trying to get familiar with everything that comes along in order to improve myself.
“I’m fine with whatever the position the coach wants me to play in attack because I played it all before,” he said.
Oblak heads for Atletico
Slovenian international goalkeeper Jan Oblak has agreed a six-year deal with Atletico Madrid, the La Liga champions confirmed.
Portuguese champions Benfica said in a statement that the Spanish side paid them the amount specified in the release clause of Oblak’s contract: 16 million euros.
The arrival of Oblak follows that of Miguel Angel Moya from Getafe last month.
Atletico are replacing Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who has signed for Premier League giants Chelsea, with Dani Aranzubia out of contract with the Spanish side.
Atletico sporting director Jose Luis Caminero expressed his delight at the deal which is subject to a medical.
“Jan Oblak is a goalkeeper with a lot of quality and a very promising future,” said Caminero.
