The Dutchman has made his debut for Madrid after joining training this week. Jesús Alcaide, commentator: “Dumfries has a lot of power; it doesn’t seem like his first game with Madrid because all his teammates are already looking for him immediately. He creates panic in the opponents.”
Real Madrid officially kicked off their preseason with a friendly against Fiorentina (2-2), a match played at the Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt, Austria, and which featured Denzel Dumfries in the starting lineup. The Dutchman, who joined training this week at the Valdebebas training complex, played as a right winger ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold and shared his thoughts after the match on Realmadrid TV, stating that he is a versatile player and very happy to be at the club, which paid Inter Milan €20 million to acquire his services.
“Yes, I feel good. Proud to have made my debut with Real Madrid. This first match was a great experience, and now it’s time to work hard for what’s to come,” Dumfries said, offering his initial assessment of his first friendly with his new team , addressing José Mourinho’s decision to play him further up the field. “It’s the first match, so I have to work hard and prove my worth. It wasn’t my natural position, but I think it was a good friendly,” added the 30-year-old, who has arrived to reinforce Real Madrid’s right flank, especially after Dani Carvajal’s departure.
“I can play in different positions, yes. I’m used to it. Normally, on the right wing,” Dumfries stated when asked about his versatility on the field, expressing his ambition for the future and trying to reassure the fans. “It’s incredible what I’m experiencing. We’ve only been together a week and we still need to get to know each other better, but that’s what preseason is for. There’s a lot of quality in the squad and I’m eager for the upcoming matches,” concluded the defender, who joined the group training session this Tuesday after playing in the World Cup with the Dutch national team.
Wing-back and full-back
Dumfries has played ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold, in a sort of wing-back role, a position he’s very familiar with from his time at Inter, to help out in attack. Indeed, when it comes to taking the initiative, Mourinho has made a significant impact by dropping Trent back and turning him into a sort of third center-back to bring the ball out from the back, forming a double full-back position defensively between the two players.
