AC Milan striker Rafael Leao admits he signed for Benfica as a junior before joining Sporting CP.
Leao says Benfica simply forget about him just weeks into the deal.
He recalled to Vice: “Where I lived there was someone who worked for a club nearby, and in front of the house there was a garden where I always played with the other children. I was always there playing, he saw me and asked me if I played somewhere.
“I told him no and that my dad was there and he was looking for a club to start. He told me to go to his team and do a couple of training sessions, then we would see. I went there, did a training session and started at that club, it’s called Mora.
“Three weeks later I signed with Benfica, but I didn’t have the chance to go to training because Lisbon was far away, and they told me to stay calm, that someone would come to accompany me to training every day.
“I signed with Benfica, waited a week: they never arrived. A week later my dad contacted them and said I was going to another club. So I went to Sporting, and then from there… There were people close to me who said I could go far.
“I had the talent but then in training… I liked football, but in my head, I didn’t know where I could go in the future. Then there was a meeting with me and my dad, they told us that maybe I should leave because what I was doing up to that moment was not going well.
“So maybe I should have found another club. And that’s when I got it into my head that I had to wake up and concentrate on working and putting myself in a position to get to the top. I want to win a lot of things, important things, be important in my club and win individual trophies.”
