Iglesias: ‘Incredibly grateful to be here’

Borja Iglesias on…

…the reasons for his move under the Cross and his new head coach Xabi Alonso: It was an easy decision to come here. The new challenge and the opportunity to develop attracted me. Xabi contacted me in person. He explained the situation to me, described the club’s ambition and he told me I could play an important role here. I was very happy about that. I’m incredibly grateful to be here – above all because I wasn’t having a great time in Spain recently. I will try to repay the confidence shown in me.

…his new teammates: There’s a good spirit amongst the players and they’re doing a really good job. It’s an ambitious team that wants to achieve things. I will give my all to help this team. I feel really good in Leverkusen up to now and I’ve been treated really well by everybody at the club and the team.

…fellow countryman Alejandro Grimaldo: Alejandro is a very good player. He’s made a successful debut for the national team – and he certainly deserved it, he worked hard for it. Of course, it could have happened much earlier as he was a very good player when he was at Benfica. But sometimes you can’t apply logic to things that happen in football. Football isn’t mathematics. (laughs)

…the appeal of Bayer 04 in Spanish-speaking countries: Bayer 04 is a very well respected club in Spain and always has been. A lot of Spaniards are working here and that ensures a lot of people back home watch how Bayer 04 are doing a lot. But Bayer 04 are not just popular in Spain with the club currently attracting a lot of attention and causing a stir with the way they play. (laughs)

…his attitude to political issues: I’m an open-minded person. I think it’s important for privileged people like me to get involved with political issues in society. But I also understand if people don’t want to do that.

…the Bundesliga, his style of play and his targets at Bayer 04: If you compere the Bundesliga with La Liga then football here is much more physical and there are more duels than in Spain and I like that very much. I’m a striker who likes to use his body and waits for the right moment in the box. But I can also make important runs and create space. At the end of the day, I just want to play good football with this team and do my best. There’s a long and hard way to go to the end of the season and we will take it step by step. I’m looking forward to the game against Darmstadt at the weekend – and then the following weeks here at Leverkusen.