Pep Guardiola’s prodigy has shared both funny and mixed emotions stories throughout his 12-year career wearing the Benfica jersey, until becoming a member of Pep Guardiola’s team. French players will stay in one room at the hotel, while Portuguese players will stay in another. That’s the only way to maintain a peaceful atmosphere before the final match takes place

Shattered dreams at Benfica

I was born into a football-obsessed family. As a result, there were never-ending debates in my household. My mother was a die-hard Sporting fan, while my father was infatuated with Benfica. Since I was young, my mother would try to sway me to her side, but she knew it was hopeless. I don’t remember when exactly, but I have always supported Benfica because of my idol, Rui Costa. He was the person I always tried to emulate whenever I laced up my boots to play.

At the age of six, some scouts from Benfica’s youth team invited me to join their squad. It felt like a dream come true, but unfortunately, the costs were exorbitant, and the academy was too far from my home. Throughout the year, I had to beg my parents to allow me to go to Benfica, but they both believed I was too young.

On my seventh birthday in August 2001, my grandfather gave me a card—just a card, without any wrapping or anything. I don’t remember how well I could read back then, but that didn’t matter because right in front of my eyes was the Benfica logo along with the words, “Happy birthday, welcome to Benfica.”

He was the one who agreed to pay for my education at the club’s academy. It was undoubtedly one of the happiest moments of my life. Ironically, it was my grandfather, who, like my mother, was a staunch supporter of Sporting, who financed my education at Benfica.

However, the rosy life and happy moments soon came to an end after my seventh birthday.

My story at Benfica didn’t begin with the sentence, “And so, I left to become a legend of the team I admired since childhood.” In reality, my time at Benfica was never smooth sailing. I had always been small since birth. It wasn’t an issue when I was younger, but as a teenager, a diminutive physique would earn you a disadvantage in the eyes of coaches.

At the age of 16, I went through the most dreadful period of my career. I hardly ever got to play for the youth team. The feeling of not being able to step onto the field was like psychological torture. I loved the moments of living on the pitch, so it was really hard for me to accept that reality. When I couldn’t bear it anymore, I considered leaving the club.

If I had decided to leave back then, I don’t know how my career would have turned out. Luckily, someone extended a helping hand to me, and that person was Fernando Chalana.

Chalana was one of the greatest Portuguese football legends ever produced. He was a diminutive winger with an extraordinary mustache, and his dribbling skills were so remarkable that people in my country often referred to him as Pequeno Genial (the little genius).

At that time, he was one of the young coaches at Benfica. I believe he saw a reflection of himself when he looked at me, so one day, Chalana came to me and said, “Kid, your coach doesn’t understand anything about football. You are the best player here. Believe me… There will come a day when people realize how important you are.”

That conversation changed my life. Without Chalana, I don’t know where my career would have ended up. He started calling me “Messizinho.” I guess it was because Lionel Messi was also quite small and we both were small, technically skilled left-footed players. Of course, it was awkward to compare myself to a genius like him. But the truth is, Chalana’s words gave me much more confidence.

I told myself, okay, if the “little genius” has placed his trust in you, you need to have faith in yourself too. That motivation helped me rise to the Benfica B team. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make it to the first team. When I turned 18, I was still stuck in the same situation. And then I decided to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Lisbon.

To be fair, Benfica was a very strong team at that time. In 2014, they won the championship and two domestic cups. Throughout the season, I only played one match – of course, as a substitute. And that was the only mark I left. So that summer, I understood that it was time for me to move on. I said goodbye to the club I had been with since I was 7 years old and transferred to AS Monaco

Perfect momentum towards the Man City dream

Initially, it was difficult to adapt to the new life because I had never been anywhere outside Lisbon, let alone living alone outside Portugal. I’m sure many people thought that someone like me wouldn’t find a starting spot in the Monaco lineup. It’s understandable since they were a financially powerful and ambitious team, finishing second in Ligue 1. As for me, an unknown 19-year-old player who had only played in the Portuguese second division, what could I achieve?

But who knew, joining Monaco turned out to be the best decision of my life. I must say I was quite fortunate to work with a Portuguese coach, Leonardo Jardim, and there were also several compatriot players in the team, like Ricardo Carvalho and Joao Moutinho.

I got to play more regularly at Monaco. By the third year here, many young talents emerged in the squad. We reached the Champions League semi-finals, and what’s more, we defeated Paris Saint-Germain and clinched the Ligue 1 title.

It was an unimaginable achievement. Do you know why? We understood that PSG was much stronger than us, but no one on the team cared. Maybe because we were too young to understand what fear was? I’m not sure anymore.

One of the most memorable moments for me in 2017 was the crazy 5-3 match at the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League. I walked past Pep Guardiola and headed towards the tunnel for an interview. I didn’t think he noticed me. But Pep Guardiola stopped and shook my hand, praising me for playing a fantastic game. We had a brief conversation. For me, it was a wonderful memory because I had long admired the style of football he built. It was the style of play I always aimed for.

At the end of the season, rumors started circulating that several young players would leave Monaco. By then, I had become close with Benjamin Mendy and Kylian Mbappe – the three of us were all rumored to be joining Manchester City, Chelsea, PSG, and many other teams. Sometimes, reading those rumors, I couldn’t understand how people believed them. We joked about it in our WhatsApp conversations. There was a time when Mendy posted a picture of himself wearing a Real Madrid jersey with a caption like, “Goodbye, my brothers. I’m joining Zidane.”

Now I always roll my eyes at Mendy’s jokes. Whenever I receive a message from him, I shake my head knowing that he’s about to come up with some crazy stunt.

But in the end, I was the one who won our little game because I was the first one to be sold. For me, nothing could be better than joining Man City. There have been many stories about Pep, passed on through word of mouth or published in newspapers, but I still think people don’t truly understand how meticulous he is in every detail.

Before each match, he would tell the players that he gave them the map, but they had to solve the puzzles on the field. For those who are obsessed with football, Pep Guardiola is definitely the perfect role model to learn from. Every morning I wake up, I feel incredibly happy to play here.

On the day I signed my contract with City, I sent a picture of myself holding the new jersey to my two friends in Monaco, asking, “It’s all done. When are you guys coming to join me?”

Of course, Mendy’s answer was, “I’m getting ready to come over.”

That’s the story of me and Mendy, as for Kylian, he has always been a PSG fan, so I think his destiny lies in staying in Paris. Two months after I arrived at Man City, Mendy also signed a contract with the club. As predicted, he became the comedian in the dressing room. But let me tell you, it’s not just Mendy who’s funny here.

There’s a big issue: I’m the only Portuguese in the team. They all have their little groups, these Brazilians, Spaniards, and even my English friends. So they must enjoy teasing me on Instagram, right? It seems that teasing on social media wasn’t enough for them. One day, they hung my shoes from the ceiling, and another day they threw me into the pool while I was fully clothed.

Even though we are now the champions of the Premier League, for me, every training session feels like being a kid again – when football was just pure joy. That is something rare to find in today’s era.

Especially when I think about going to practice and having a Brazilian comedy squad with Fernandinho, Ederson, Danilo, and Jesus waiting for me, what could be more fun than that? I swear to you, after this World Cup, I will somehow convince Pep to buy a few more Portuguese players. I don’t care if they play well or not. As long as I have more allies to counter the pranks of those guys, I’ll be happy. That’s all I ask for in life.