Dioni: “I'm going to give my all, it's the club of my life”
The new Málaga CF player was presented to the media this Tuesday at La Rosaleda. “I have always wanted to play for Málaga CF and now I am. We have to work hard, it's going to be a difficult year and we all have to pull together,” were his first words as a Malaguista.
Málaga CF’s first signing of the 2023/24 season, striker Dioni Villalba was presented this Tuesday at La Rosaleda’s ‘Juan Cortés’ press room.
Firstly, sporting director Loren Juarros gave an introduction about the latest signing: “Your wish was to be here, and it’s been achieved. Welcome to your home, to your club. It’s not the best moment for Málaga, but it is a good time to make history at Málaga. We have the opportunity to return Málaga to where we believe it should be. Good luck, we wish you a lot of success and many goals. We thought about Dioni due to his ability to score goals, which he’s shown throughout his career. We have to expect the best from you.”
Dioni started out by saying: “Thank you very much to the Club for the confidence in me, I have always wanted to play for Málaga CF, the team from my homeland, and now I am. I’m delighted.” He then referred to the upcoming season: “We have to work hard, it's going to be a difficult year and we all have to pull together.”
“It’s clear that it’s an important challenge, after going down to the non-professional category after many years. With hard work, enthusiasm and effort you can achieve very beautiful things. And that’s what we’re going to do together,” he added.
Subsequently, Dioni confirmed that he had “a call with Pellicer to welcome me to Málaga” while recognising “the desire to start working in the pre-season.”
The new Blue and White striker said it was easy to join the Martiricos Club: “The operation didn’t take long. I knew I wanted to come to Málaga and it only took a few days. I’ve come here to help ensure we have a great season. I'm going to give my all, it's the club of my life,” he said.
Dioni Villalba, a great connoisseur of the bronze category, explained the new scenario: “In professional football they are all large pitches and here you will sometimes find grounds in poor condition and with small dimensions. Málaga is a great team, and the rivals will give everything to win at La Rosaleda, so we have to give at least the same level as the opponent. It’s a really tough category and we’ll have to fight a lot”.
He also talked about some of the keys to competing in Primera Federación: “Signing players of the category, as it’s difficult. You have to be very aware of what’s coming, the grounds where you are going to play, as the teams will be waiting to kill you.”
“We have to get going and have a good pre-season, the Club has to make many incorporations and the team has to be built. You have to give it time, do things right from the foundation and work very hard,” he analysed.
The Malagueño player provided a few hints of his way of playing: “First of all I consider myself a team player, then I’m a striker, one who goes out, associates and enters from the second line. I've been doing it since I was 19 years old, it's been good for me and I'm not going to change.”
Dioni didn’t hesitate to express his current emotional state: “It’s been amazing since I set foot in La Rosaleda. It’s like I’m on a cloud, it’s an incredible motivation and I’m very proud.”
Lastly, when asked about his goalscoring prediction and the number he would like to wear on the Blue and White shirt, he said: “I don't usually like to predict how many goals I’m going to score. I want to surpass this year's (14). I normally wear the number 17, the day my daughter was born, and I would like that number if it’s available.”
