Marcelino: Real Madrid's Fabio Coentrao wasn't good enough during his spell at Real Zaragoza

The Portugal international was unable to make an impact during his previous spell in La Liga, and his ex-boss felt he didn't stand out among his then team-mates

Sevilla coach Marcelino Garcia Toral has voiced his opinion that new Real Madrid signing Fabio Coentrao didn't succeed during his first spell in Spain because he wasn't good enough at the time.

Coentrao turned out on loan at Zaragoza in the first six months of the 2008-09 campaign, but failed to impress, and subsequently returned to Benfica.

Then-coach Marcelino has revealed that the Portugal international was no better than his rivals in the battle for a starting berth, and stated his belief that the player wasn't committed to Zaragoza.

"He was part of the deal that saw Pablo Aimar join Benfica. He always trained with the first team, but hardly played any games. He simply wasn't better than his rivals for a spot in the starting XI and didn't succeed," said Marcelino to AS.

"He never really managed to settle in and didn't look like he cared much for what happened at Zaragoza. I had the feeling that he never wanted to be at Zaragoza and he left again in January."

Marcelino then added that Coentrao was a completely different player at the time, and that he operated more as an attacker than a full-back.

"He played on the left, but more as a winger than as a defender. He didn't have the characteristics of a defender back then and I never tried him at the back. I don't know whether he has what it takes to make it at Madrid. They have plenty of people to judge the player's potential."

Real Madrid paid Benfica a transfer fee of €30 million for the services of the 23-year-old this summer.