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View all search resultsRI’s Arthur Irawan closer to joining Spain’s La Liga
First team: Arthur Irawan (right) trains with Walter Pandiani, the Uruguayan international and one of Espanyol’s best known players, at RCD Espanyol’s field in Estadi Cornella-El Prat in Barcelona in this undated photograph
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span class="caption" style="width: 297px;">First team: Arthur Irawan (right) trains with Walter Pandiani, the Uruguayan international and one of Espanyol’s best known players, at RCD Espanyol’s field in Estadi Cornella-El Prat in Barcelona in this undated photograph. Courtesy of Content Factory/ Supreme Sport
Arthur Irawan is one step closer to becoming the first player from Indonesia, even from Southeast Asia, to play in Spain’s La Liga.
Irawan, from Jakarta, was signed by RCD Espanyol as a youth player earlier this year. He was drafted into first-team training by the Barcelona-based outfit after rapid progress through the youth ranks.
Irawan, just 19, was called up by the coach, Argentine Mauricio Pochettino, as he put the first team through their paces in readiness for a friendly match.
It capped a dramatic few weeks for Irawan, who was also called by the Indonesian national team a month ago, only to miss out due to injury.
“It was an amazing experience to train with the first team. We’re talking internationals and guys who’ve played dozens of games in La Liga. It was an unbelievable feeling.” Arthur, who was slotted at right-back in the practice game said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post.
Last autumn, Espanyol, with a reputation for developing youth players, won the race for Surabaya-born Irawan. After completing a rigorous few months’ trial period, Irawan signed official forms in January this year.
Irawan was praised by Under 18 coach Fran Navarro who has seen the youngster progress.
“Arthur’s got great versatility and sometimes he’s had to play as second striker and has demonstrated not only his speed but his discipline,” Navarro said.
“It is very easy to work with him because he always wants to learn and it has enabled a lot of progress in recent months. He’s got a strong commitment to improve day by day.”
Irawan has been mentored during his time in Barcelona by Paul Hodgetts, a FIFA agent who runs Supreme Sports Asia, a sports advisory and management consultancy.
“Arthur’s made impressive improvement. He’s come on so well with the youth setup that he’s earned this call-up to the seniors. He looked so cool and composed at right-back and definitely not out of place,” Hodgetts said.
“After his first-team session this morning, he was so elated I couldn’t get him back to earth! But he’s been doing double training sessions since he arrived and he has unbelievable drive and passion to make the grade.
“It is a measure of Arthur’s commitment that after the first team session in the morning, he then went and joined the youth squad for afternoon training.”
