Giacomo Vrioni joins Revolution, excited for future in New England
FOXBORO -- The newest member of the New England Revolution hit the practice pitch in Foxboro on Tuesday. Forward Giacomo Vrioni got his first glimpse of life with the Revs -- and life in America.
"It's my first time in America to be honest," Vrioni told reporters following his first training session with the club. "It's the first time and I like America. I like all the places. I like Boston. I've been here since Friday, so I started to see a little bit of the city. It's very nice, and I'm really, really happy to be here."
New England added the 23-year-old Vrioni to help offset the departure of Adam Buksa, who departed for French football club RC Lens last month. Vrioni is now New England's third Designated Player, joining midfielder Carles Gil and forward Gustavo Bou, and is signed through the 2025 season.
Before joining the Revs, Vrioni was on loan to WSG Tirol of the Austrian Bundesliga, and tallied 21 goals over 30 matches across all competition. He previously played for Juventus (appearing twice for the first team) and also played for the Albania national team.
In New England, he'll play striker -- the No. 9 position -- that was previously held by Buksa.
"I like to be the classic number nine. I like it there because I feel more comfortable," Vrioni said Tuesday. "I like it there and I always play there, so I like to be the number nine, to be a striker. This is my best position."
In doing so, he takes over for the club's leading scorer over the last two seasons. No pressure, right?
Not really. Vrioni said that a big reason he came to New England was Sporting Director and head coach Bruce Arena, who has all the confidence in the world that the striker can step right in and score some goals for the Revs.
"I don't put pressure on myself. Of course, I push myself to give everything every day, to learn something from the coach [Arena] because I know that he's a good coach -- he trained also with the [United States Men's] National Team so I know which kind of coach I have," said Vrioni. "He will learn a lot from me. And we have to try to start to win the games to go into the playoffs because we have the opportunity to go there. I think we are a big team that plays good football, and we have to find the self-confidence and maintain the calm to win the games."
The Revs are back in action Saturday night when the club concludes a three-game road trip with a road match against the Columbus Crew. Catch the match on TV38, with coverage kicking off at 7:30 p.m.