Adilson Malanda arrived at Middlesbrough this week after signing in the summer
Adilson Malanda in Middlesbrough training(Image: Middlesbrough FC)
Kim Hellberg has been left very impressed with Adilson Malanda in his first week at Middlesbrough – but has called for patience with the defender.
Malanda arrived at Boro at the start of this week, having completed his loan spell with Charlotte FC last month, before having a three-week holiday.
It follows Boro’s big-money move for the 24-year-old in the summer, which was understood to be worth somewhere in the region of £6 million.
Malanda won’t be available to play for Boro until January, when the EFL registration window re-opens. Instead, for the time being he will be doing what’s being described as ‘a mini pre-season’ as he gets up to speed and integrates with the group.
In this first week, as Boro’s first-team players prepared for their trip to Hull City, Malanda has been training alone, working on an individual programme designed to rebuild his sharpness after his post-MLS campaign break before he eventually integrates fully into the group.
On his first impressions, Hellberg said: “He hasn’t trained with us yet. He trained on the side. He’s doing like a mini pre-season and getting used to it after coming back from his break.
“But he has impressed me in the way he talks, in the way he acts. He seems like a top human being and also a very good footballer, from what I’ve seen on the clips.
“I’m looking forward to getting him into the squad and getting him to work with him on the pitch. He seems like a very good person and also a good footballer, so he will be a good addition.”
Malanda arrives at Boro to much fanfare. Given the big price tag, and the performances for Charlotte that followed as he saw out the remainder of the MLS campaign in North Carolina, there’s a lot of excitement around the Frenchman’s arrival.
Hellberg, too, is excited about the prospect of welcoming Malanda into his squad. However, he is also wary of putting too much pressure on the defender too soon.
In an important plea for patience, the Boro boss said: “He’s strong, he’s big, he’s quick. So there’s a lot of physical things that are very interesting, but he’s also good with the ball.
“I think we also need to have a little bit of patience with him, because he comes from America, he comes from a vacation, and is now coming into English football [for the first time].
“So I think we need to give him the best conditions to be good when he plays. I don’t want to put too much pressure on him to say, ‘okay, he will go in and be phenomenal’.
“But I see how good he can be with some time. I think it is important for everyone – supporters, me, coaches, and everyone – to give him time. But he will be good.
“He’s a very good and strong person, and he loves football – he likes to talk about football. So he’ll be very good, but we need to also respect the timeline coming from a different continent and all those things.”
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