Middlesbrough FC

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Arca urges Alves caution

07 Feb 2008 - 09:00:46

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Middlesbrough captain Julio Arca has warned expectant supporters not to demand too much of new record signing Afonso Alves too soon.

The Brazil international striker finally joined up with his new team-mates on Wednesday after being granted a work permit and could make his debut in Saturday's clash with Fulham at the Riverside.

However, Arca, who has himself had to settle in the north-east after moving from South America, believes Alves could take time to find his feet in the Premier League.

Boro paid Dutch club Herenveen a club record fee - believed to be £10million - to sign the highly-rated marksman last week.

"We don't know much about him but obviously we've heard that he's been scoring lots of goals, he's only 27 years old and he's got plenty of confidence and he's looking forward to playing in the English league," Arca told the club's official website.

"I'm sure he's going to bring some extra qualities to the team and that's what we need.

"We've been creating lots of chances and we've been scoring goals but maybe he can bring something extra for us that will help the team.

"We're going to try to help him as much as we can, but obviously it will depend on him and we'll see what he can do in the Premier League.

"The supporters will have to be patient. Everyone expects him to come and score goals, especially the fans when you're talking about the amount of money the club have paid for him.

"But if you're realistic sometimes you have to give time to the players to adapt, especially coming from a different country.

"Everyone is different, but I always say from the cases I've seen before it normally takes between four and six months at least to adapt."