Arena discusses Vrioni’s availability for game against the Crew

Giacomo Vrioni has arrived, but it might take some time for him to get up to full speed with the New England Revolution.

The Albania national team striker had his first training session with the Revolution on Tuesday. His participation in Saturday’s game against the Columbus Crew is still up in the air.

“He just got in,” head coach and sporting director Bruce Arena told media on Thursday. “He hasn’t played in a while. If he travels with us and is on a gameday roster, he would only be available for limited minutes.”

Arena explained that Vrioni will “need some time for his fitness to come around since he hasn’t played the game probably in, I would guess a couple of months.” The hope is that Vironi’s involvement increases in the coming weeks.

Arena told The Sports Hub that Vrioni will “be able to give us some limited minutes in the short-term and I think by mid-August he’s going to play some significant minutes, and then hopefully by September, he’s really ready to go.”

Arena added that he’ll have a better understanding of Vrioni’s timeline in the coming weeks, noting he’s “optimistic we can get him going at full speed in a short period of time.”

With a few training sessions under his belt, reviews of Vroini have been positive. Arena commented that the 23-year-old is a “good player,” who is “clearly a number nine, strong on the ball, [and] good finisher.”

Teammate Brandon Bye looks forward to playing alongside Vrioini,

“A good guy who came in with a smile on his face ready to work, and that’s the best way to do it,” Bye said. “And then seeing him in practice today and a little bit yesterday, he looks good, looks fit, looks strong, and looks like a good service piece in the box that I’m going to be excited to find.”

Update: Vrioni did make the trip to Columbus, but Dylan Borrero remained in New England.