Needing to replace departing striking star, Javier Hernandez, Bayer Leverkusen immediately identified Lucas Alario as an ideal replacement.
Although it took some time to finally get the deal ratified by FIFA, who were asked to help Leverkusen secure his signature as the Argentine Football Association wouldn't sign off on the deal, Die Werkself eventually got their man.
Paying his lofty €18 million release clause was indeed a testament to the faith they have in his multi-dimensional abilities. And the thrice capped Argentine international certainly went some way to repaying the club by putting in an exceptional debut in his side's 3-0 annihilation of Hamburg. Scoring a goal and supplying an assist was also a perfect way to announce himself to the Leverkusen supporters.
The man nicknamed 'El Pipa' (which translates to the Rifle) wasn't restricted to the aforementioned tangible contributions, however, for the 24-year-old showed plenty of his additional strengths.
Powerful and full of energy throughout, Alario posed an ever-present threat to the Hamburg backline. Whether holding the ball up assuredly, playing some customarily incisive lay offs and passes or competing manfully in the air, he displayed how capable he is in situations when the ball is on the ground or in the air.
Furthermore, his nifty movement enabled him to drop deep and exploit space between the defensive and midfield lines of the Hamburg block, plus use his ability to beautifully time his runs in behind (something that was illustrated aptly for his goal), only served to enhance his menace. His manager, Heiko Herrlich, duly heaped praise on his new signing following his excellent bow, making a point of highlighting his classy sliding finish.
See the full Bundesliga table here.
A delighted Alario couldn't have been happier about finally running out for his new side and making a keen impact, saying: "I’m thrilled to have won my first game. It was a really important victory for the team after a difficult time for me. I’ve been training every day but wasn’t allowed to play.”
Positively, the imposing centre-forward backed this up with another encouragingly outing in his side's credible 1-1 away draw with Schalke 04 at the weekend. Although he couldn't score this time around, he yet again demonstrated his strong adaptation to his new teammates, exhibiting an especially solid understanding with fellow attackers Leon Bailey and Kevin Volland. "My strike partners Bailey and Volland are really good players. You could see how well we understand each other out there on the pitch,” Alario announced.
By the numbers, the fact he's averaging winning 3.5 aerial duels per game, creating 1.5 chances pg and been fouled 2.5 times pg have underlined his influential start to life at Leverkusen.
His tremendous desire to learn both English and German as soon as possible, in order to integrate and be able to properly communicate with his new teammates, should only heighten his chances of success in the Bundesliga.
Indeed, there's no doubting the man titled the future of the Argentine national team by former national team manager, Edgardo Bauza, has just about all the tools to become an elite striker. And deciding to move to Leverkusen will unquestionably give him the platform to do precisely that.
While it won't be easy to replicate the feats of the now departed Chicharito Hernandez, who scored a notable 39 goals over the course of his 76 appearances for the club, Alario's talent and attitude should mean he'll be every bit as successful as the clinical Mexican international.
