Adrián López Álvarez

Being a Spanish player in this day and age can mean the chances of earning a Spain cap are nearly zero, bar a shortage of players at La Roja since the starting XI is very much defined by the stars who have cemented their places in it. One need look no further than our very own beloved Mikel Arteta as an example of how difficult it is to break into the World and European champions' national squad.

That being said, when a player, typically a young one, manages to earn his first Spanish cap, it is with the assumption that he has a genuine future at the international level possibly to eventually replace one of the aging stars and that his potential is vast. Such is the case with Athletico Madrid forward Adrián López Álvarez who has been likened to David Villa, who just so happens to play the exact same position as Adrián, as he's called in Spain, which is as a forward and sometimes a left winger. Adrián a forward by nature plays out on the left due to the out and out striker role at Atleti currently being occupied by beast Falcao.


Adrián began his career at the Real Oviedo youth academy eventually breaking into the first team in 2005 at the age of 17. After a year with Oviedo in which he made 30 appearances and scored 4 goals, he was purchased by Deportivo de La Coruña for a fee of €330,000. He would struggle to fixate himself in the Deportivo starting XI and after five seasons including two loans to Alaves and Malaga respectively he was signed by Athletico Madrid on a free transfer signing a four year contract. It was at Atleti that Adrián's true potential would be unleashed. He would go on to appear 55 times for Atleti in the 2011-12 season on the left partnering with Falcao helping them win the Europa League and scoring 19 goals in the process. This fine form was rewarded with a Spain call up in May of 2012 in a friendly against Serbia in which he scored a header and won a penalty.


Style of Play:

Standing in at 5 ft 11 inches or 1.82 meters, one wouldn't think of him as too fearsome an opponent in the air, however Adrián has proven to be deadly from all forms of close range chances scoring 4 of his 19 goals via headers and looking an absolute natural clinical finisher in one on ones. His great pace and close control allow him to maneuver his way into better scoring advantages as he showed last year along with his killer instinct in front of goal. With all these attributes and a powerful shot to boot, it's no wonder he's being heralded as the 'new David Villa'. If properly nurtured by Wenger, he very well could merit that praise and reach that pedigree.

Arsenal Interest:

Due to the fact that we will lose Gervinho to AFCON in January and that Theo will be free to sign a pre-contract with a foreign contract at the turn of the year if he doesn't re-sign, we will be very short up front. Wenger, who had already been trying to land Adrián this summer naturally tuned his interest back up since our options will basically only be Giroud and due to the fact that Adrián is being frozen out for his reluctance to sign a new contract (sound familiar?). His €18 million is a hefty one in Arsenal terms but with some Wengeresque negotiating, he could very well be worth the price we pay.

Odds and Ends:

Date of Birth: January 8th 1988
Foot: Right
Market Value*: 15.000.000 €
Agent*: Mondial Sport Management & Consulting Sarl
Contract Until*: June 30th 2015


* = Courtesy of transfermarkt.co.uk

MemeJ

@MJ ,hey m8 are u talking about Lopez! or Falcao ? I guess that Falcao is better than him ..imo..lol..........btw what does Odds n Ends mean !

That was Sririously nice of you.

@boss
talking about Lopez but he's got an important striker relationship with Falcao so I put their pics together and odds and ends just means extra stuff!!

Great job MJ

From what I've heard/read/seen he's more of an inside winger than a typical 9. Basically a Pedro or a Villa as you pointed out.

He could be pretty much Walcott's replacement if he doesn't sign a new contract.

thanks MJ for getting the job done so quickly

Spanish(happier life factor )so good technique and link up play offering pace and goal threat(10+/season) from flanks&reasonable fee

sounds good

Thanks guys

Definitely a good winger, but with Podolski already on the left then perhaps he could be tried up front or at least in a supporting role.

Nice work MJ...
He looks the perfect replacement for Walcott if not better.. He should obviously have better technique and passing/crossing qualities than Walcott..
Btw.. Another thought.. Athletico are definitely going to sell Falcao for big money.. So wont they try to hold on to Lopez.. And with the Arsenal interest on the media, now he will usually attract spuds and liverpool.. Hopefully Chelsea and City might go after Falcao..

Wilson37 wrote:Btw.. Another thought.. Athletico are definitely going to sell Falcao for big money.. So wont they try to hold on to Lopez.. And with the Arsenal interest on the media, now he will usually attract spuds and liverpool.. Hopefully Chelsea and City might go after Falcao..

He has a buy out clause in his contract and if Arsenal or any other club meet that number - it's not on Athleticos hands anymore. They're desperately trying to renew his contract though but talks have been stalled. He's probably checking if a big club is going for him before signing a new improved contract.

Buy, buy, buy!!!

Thanks Wilson

urbaNRoots wrote:

He has a buy out clause in his contract and if Arsenal or any other club meet that number - it's not on Athleticos hands anymore. They're desperately trying to renew his contract though but talks have been stalled. He's probably checking if a big club is going for him before signing a new improved contract.

+1

He's a very realistic option if we sell Walcott.

Great job MJ.

Any Spanish NT is welcomed at Arsenal. He is just the type of player Wenger loves to work with.

Welcome to Arsenal Adrian.

The money Walcott wants is just ridicules and Adrian will come for half of that and the other half for German player maybey?

Miss these player profiles, great work MJ.

Love how Wenger's policy changed a bit over the last two years. We no longer buy 18-20 year olds, but players, who even though need a bit time to adjust, bring instant results: (see Cazorla,Mertesacker, Podolski, hopefully Giroud too).

Spanish Arsenal is back. Beat that Cex.

I still wouldnt trade him with Walcott.

nice bio. I hope you guys get some support up top, as i have really enjoyed arsenal's success so far this season.

@Raptorgunner, do you have a particular german in mind?

1.82m is 6ft basically

Giggity5313 wrote:1.82m is 6ft basically

I actually checked two different sources. One said 1.82 and one said 1.80 (5ft 11)

Atleti XI vs Sociedad :Courtois; Juanfran, Miranda, Godín, Filipe Luis; Mario Suárez, Gabi; Adrián, Raul Garcia, Koke y Falcao

vela starts for the soceidad

Kick off in half an hour

with all CL teams already playedthis week good chance to watch him and Atleti overall

Hope you guys sign him or some other top forward. You guys have a good defence, good midfield, but lack a real goalscorer. Your situation is a bit like Juventus atm, but Juve gets away with it since their league is not competetive. (no offence to Juve or serie a).

I am sure that Giroud will eventually find his feet in the PL, but all top teams need 2 good goalscorers.

Good luck.

Adrian is facing a Theo-esque situation at Atletico. Didn't get a contract extension so he's not starting anymore similar to Theo. Like us, trying to get him to sign a new contract.

abhinav14 wrote:Adrian is facing a Theo-esque situation at Atletico. Didn't get a contract extension so he's not starting anymore similar to Theo. Like us, trying to get him to sign a new contract.

Only difference is that Adrian still has time on his contract, Atleti want to change his buy-out clause which is relatively low for someone they value so highly, and rightly so.

didn't impress me last night
surely he has had far better games than this to caught the eye of our scout
but not sure if he is improvement on what we have

BTW start of goal.com report
"A first half that was largely dominated by Zaragoza allowed Adrian to show a different side to the sparkling, attacking game he is renowned for. '

Adrian had an average game against Sociedad, but it's important to remember he is a good player and this performance was largely a one-off. He's normally very effective from the wing, supporting Falcao.

My opinion on him, is that he's a versatile, somewhat-experienced forward who can bring us some more quality in the forward areas - no doubt he would be a huge improvement on back-ups we've had in recent seasons, Chamakh and Park etc.

But I'm not convinced he's the striker that will come in and score 25 goals a season.

His form this season has been greatly affected by his slashed minutes.

Atleti vs osasuna
Adrian on the bench
Rodriguez doing well in his place it seems