It's going to be tough but it will make him stronger

IRELAND LEGEND BELIEVES EVAN CAN THRIVE AT ROMA

- MARK McCADDEN

IN SOME ways, it was a good thing that John Aldridge didn't speak the language.

As the first non-Basque player to sign for Real Sociedad in decades, his arrival was greeted with outrage by the majority of the club's fanbase.

So much so that as he arrived for his first session with his new side, he passed by some pretty nasty graffiti near the entrance to the training ground.

"I didn't know until after I got introduced to all the press that 80 per cent of the people didn't want me. No-one told me that," he told Star Sport, speaking with BetBrain.

"When I went to the training ground, I couldn't speak Spanish or Basque at the time and there was graffiti that I didn't know was saying, Aldridge, f**k off, we don't want you' at the training ground." At least that's one concern that Evan Ferguson won't have if he completes his loan move from Brighton to Roma this week.

Politically, there should be no such issue with an Ireland striker joining the Serie A giants.

Indeed, Ferguson's arrival is likely to generate giddy levels of excitement among one section of the club's vast support, the so-called Irish Clan.

This is a group of locals who have long waved Irish flags in the famous Curva Sud, the home of the club's Ultra groups at the Stadio Olimpico.