Tuesday 2 January 2018 23:02, UK
Leicester winger Marc Albrighton believes Adrien Silva will be worth the wait after the £22m midfielder's delayed debut.
Portugal international Silva finally made his Foxes bow as a late substitute in the New Year's Day 3-0 win over Huddersfield.
Silva has been forced to wait after Leicester missed the registration deadline by 14 seconds when they tried to complete his move from Sporting Lisbon in August.
Leicester and Silva's appeals failed leaving him in limbo but, after his team-mate's long-awaited debut, Albrighton insists Silva can shine in the Premier League.
The 28-year-old said: "He has obviously got the quality in his feet and that is why we signed him, for his technical ability, it is second to none.
"He will be eager to prove, as he has done to the lads in training, to everyone that he can do the other side and cope with the English game.
"I found it tough in training when I first joined City and I had played all my career in England at Villa. I found it tough to keep up with the pace in training when I first came to Leicester early on.
"I haven't seen a player yet who has come in and not said 'wow, this is intense'. You adjust and get on with it, and learn to do it.
Adrien is going to bring his qualities into the squad, which we need.
"He is a different player to Danny [Drinkwater]. They both have their own qualities in their own right and have some similarities but they are different.
"Adrien is going to bring his qualities into the squad, which we need.
"It came up on Sky Sports that he wasn't going to be available, so we presumed he couldn't play. I think it was 11.30am we were told he could play.
"We said, 'make sure it is right and he can play because we don't want to be deducted any points'. Luckily it was fine and he got some game time."
