Ryan Alebiosu’s “good connection” with Dion De Neve can help the new signing hit the ground running at Ewood Park.
The pair played alongside each other for a couple of seasons at Kortrijk before making the move to East Lancashire this summer.
De Neve was the first to join Rovers, taking on a new challenge abroad after spending his career to date in Belgium.
It is a return to more familiar surroundings for Alebiosu, who was born in Islington and progressed through the youth ranks at Arsenal. The right-back also had stints at Crewe Alexandra and Kilmarnock before heading overseas.
De Neve’s positive words about the club helped Alebiosu decide that Rovers was the right place for the next chapter of alhis career.
“It has been good so far. Obviously, to reunite with Dion has been positive,” he told RoversTV.
“He said good things about this place and the experience he is having. That was something to take in mind when coming here.
“Me and Dion always had a good connection. When I first came into the country, he was obviously from there. He took me in and helped me a lot getting to know other people and the places.
“The way we played at Kortrijk was both wing-backs bombing on, attacking-wise, so it was similar in that aspect.”
De Neve has had slightly longer to get to know his new team-mates but is still adjusting to life in England as he prepares for his first taste of Championship football.
The versatile wide man is looking forward to working alongside Alebiosu again after their time together in the Belgian Pro League.
“We are alike on the pitch, always going forward,” he assessed. “I played left-back and he played right-back so in training, we always played against each other.
“We were both going forward and sometimes we said to each other, ‘We have to stop running!’ It was always like that in training, we have a really good connection.”
The pair were already familiar with Makhtar Gueye, who had a spell at Molenbeek in Belgium before making the move to Lancashire last summer.
The training camp in Spain was a valuable week for the new recruits as they settle in at Rovers and prepare for the upcoming campaign.
De Neve got more than 100 minutes under his belt across the friendlies against Qatar SC and Elche, playing an hour against the latter.
Alebiosu’s game time was managed, having completed his move to Ewood Park earlier this month, but the 23-year-old still got some valuable minutes in the tank.
“I think it is vital to have a pre-season tour with everyone together,” he explained. “Especially coming in new, you get to learn about people and different characters.
“Obviously, me and Dion have known each other for how long so it builds connections by knowing more about other people. Even Pape, we knew him in Belgium and he is just a big character, he is funny.”
De Neve added: “It is always good to have pre-season. It gives you 24 hours together every day and when you play, you have to adapt and get to know all the players.”
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