On his Serie A debut he played with the aplomb of a veteran, and that same composure was apparent as Martin Payero spoke to Udinese TV.
He began by talking about his delight in making the move to Udine on deadline day.
“Of course I'm happy at Udinese. When I heard there was a chance for me to come here, I talked to my family and they were all happy about it.
“It was late in the day but I did everything I could to ensure the talks were successful. The club really wanted me and that's a great feeling.”
The 25-year-old then shared his memories of starting out in the Banfield youth academy
“I was 15. Before then I played for my hometown. I learnt so much during my time there. After a really good season, I came to Europe and carried on learning. It was a very important experience for me.”
Payero's first taste of Europe was the north-east of England: Middlesborough.
“That was another big step for me. I did struggle with such a massive change for the first month, but then I settled in.”
Next up was a loan move to Boca Juniors.
“It's a huge club that represents so much in Argentina. When you pull on that shirt you want to show everyone that you deserve it. You feel this massive incentive to improve. I'm glad I got the chance to play for them in my career.”
In 2022 he helped Boca win the league and Super Cup.
“That was my best season – winning two trophies was amazing! It was a great way to finish my time there.”
Now he's looking for success in Italy.
“We want to take Udinese as high as possible and we work hard every day to achieve that. I know we have a great team here. We can improve a lot but it's up to us. If we stick together, we can reach our goals.
“Our next game against Fiorentina is an opportunity for us to start climbing the table.”