BARCELONA may be widely acknowledged as one of the biggest clubs in world football but Sunderland new boy Arnau Riera believes the Black Cats compare favourably with the Spanish giants.

Riera spent five seasons on the fringes of the Catalan club's first-team squad without ever getting a sniff of a game at the Nou Camp and felt the time had finally come to move on as his career had stagnated.

But the 24-year-old midfielder says this is all about to change following his move to the Stadium of Light and believes his career is about to take off.

Riera was aware of Sunderland's standing in English football before he arrived on trial during the summer but confessed he did not realise just how big the club was.

"Sunderland compares with Barcelona because they too are a big, big club," admitted Barca's former B team skipper, who will wear the No 19 shirt.

"I have friends from England who informed me that Sunderland was a massive club before I got here, which is true."

Riera last week penned a three-year deal which will keep him at the Stadium of Light until 2009 after impressing the Black Cats' new boss Niall Quinn and his backroom staff after a week-long trial.

Barcelona's decision to install a sell-on fee indicates just how they feel their former charge will progress and hope to cash in should he fulfil his potential.

Quinn would not reveal whether Riera would play from the start of the Championship clash with Plymouth today but, after his international clearance came through yesterday afternoon, it is expected he will play some part in the proceedings.

The Spaniard is relishing the prospect of pulling on the famous red and white shirt after confessing to being a big fan of English football, adding that the progress his fellow countrymen have made since swapping La Liga life for the Premiership was another major factor in his decision to move here.

He said: "English football excites me a lot and I was encouraged to come to England by how well the Spanish players have done since they arrived in the Premiership.

"I used to watch it on TV as a boy with my father and I like the style. Most of the players who have come here, like Xabi Alonso, Gaizka Mendieta, Cesc Fabregas and Luis Garcia, have adapted very well to English football and that is the reason I have come here.

"There is a big difference from Spanish football to English football.

"Here it is a lot faster and you always have to be at 100 per cent and give your best for the people. I know I will need some time to adapt but, hopefully, in a couple of weeks that will come."

Riera is aware of the Black Cats' fanatical following and says he can share a certain empathy with Wearside's working-class roots.

He said: "One of the things the coach (Quinn) told me was that they (club and fans) want players with ambition and passion and they must give 100 per cent.

"He said things might go wrong but the fans will forgive you, just as long as you give 100 per cent.

"I know Sunderland is a working-class area and they pay a lot of money to watch.

As a child I came from a working class area of Spain in Mallorca and I respect the supporters for that reason."