Coach Calleja Insists Villarreal Need Chukwueze’s Virtues

The 21-year-old forward has endured a far-from-spectacular season with the Yellow Submarines this season, but he has not lost the trust of his coach

Villarreal manager Javi Calleja has lauded the attributes of Samuel Chukwueze while hinting that the Nigerian forward may be involved when the club faces Getafe on Wednesday.

European hopefuls Getafe and Villarreal lock horns in La Liga today with the visitors the favourites, having won four of their last six matches.

Chukwueze impressed in the only loss during that run, a 4-1 defeat at home to Barcelona last time out.

Getafe won’t be an easy opponent for Villarreal to blast past though, with Wednesday’s hosts on a decent run of four draws, one win and one defeat in their last six matches.

Chukwueze has managed three goals and one assist in 33 league appearances but his boss his banking on his pace and trickery to help unlock the Getafe defence later tonight.

“The alternative may be Samu (Chukwueze) because he has many virtues to play up front because he is fast and goes well into space, but I’m not going to give more clues,” Calleja said at the pre-match press conference, as per Periodico Mediterraneo. 

Getafe have only won one of their last five matches, but just one point and one position separate these two sides in the La Liga table with Villarreal above Getafe in the race for the European places.