Having progressed through the Porto system, the midfielder tested himself against the world’s best at a young age.
For a new feature in the 2018/19 official matchday programme, the midfielder discusses what his football career brought prior to his Molineux move.
Living the boyhood dream - Porto | 2005-2017
Every memory is good from Porto. Unfortunately, I didn’t win any titles with Porto but it was my dream to play for the club and I achieved that. It’s been my team since I was young, so it was very good to play for Porto, I love the club.
Champions League football - Porto | 2014-2017
It’s the best league in the world, every player wants to play in the Champions League. I played against some of the best players in the world and it helped me to grow as a player. Juventus’ stadium was the best I played at, also Dortmund and Bayern Munich had a good atmosphere.
Vital experience on loan - Padroense | 2012-13
At Porto when you’re under-16 every player goes to Padroense to allow you to play professionally. In Portugal it doesn’t start professionally until under-15 but we went to Padroense at under-14 so played above our age. It was good because we played against the older players in the Championship.
First game, first goal - Porto vs CS Marítimo | 15th August 2014
It was my first game for Porto and it was incredible. It was a corner which they cleared and like usual I was on the second ball, and I shot with my first touch which was really good – a dream.
Representing his country - Portugal | 2015-present
It’s incredible. Every player wants to play for their national team. I’ve played with some very good players, who I watched when I was younger. It’s very good for me and I hope I can help the team again in the future. They are the European champions so it’s good to play with some of the winners again at Wolves.
This article first appeared in the Wolves versus Everton matchday programme, which is available around Molineux on matchdays for just £3.50, and also featured content with Conor Coady, Matt Doherty and Matt Murray. Back issues are available in the Molineux Megastore and online now.
