Indonesian Football Starlet Arthur Irawan Is One Step Closer to Play in La Liga

Antony Sutton

Indonesian starlet Arthur Irawan will be playing in the Spanish league next season.

Arthur, 19, has been promoted to the Espanyol Reserves squad which will play in Segunda B against the likes of Valencia, Villareal and Zaragoza.

Arthur reported back for pre-season training this week following a summer break in Jakarta and joined his RCD Espanyol teammates at the training complex at Sant Adria de Besos in the north of Barcelona.

Right full-back Arthur, who officially signed for the club around the turn of the year, played 20 games for the juvenile squad in around half a season as they won the league title and reached the Catalonia Cup final where they lost 1-0 to FC Barcelona.

Said Arthur: “It was great to be back in Indonesia for a summer break and catch up with my family and friends, but I managed to keep up my fitness work and do a lot of running. It was sad to leave home, but I’m delighted to be back training with my teammates.

“We’re going to be facing some strong teams next season so it’s vital we hit the ground running. Many of the teams in Spain go to training camps in the mountains and it will be pretty intensive and hard, but I’m looking forward to it,” continued Arthur.

Under the watchful eye of coach Raul Longhi, the team will go through training and fitness drills this week before heading off to a training camp in the Pyrenees mountains in the north east of Spain.