Brazilian striker Pedro Neves was only 12 when Charlton Athletic invited him for a trial. The youngster, still at Corinthians, took his chance and travelled to London to try his luck.
Pedro was accepted by the club, and left Brazil with his parents and his sister to move to England. His nice story, as reported by Globo Esporte today, is now told in Liverpool, as after a couple of years, Pedro transferred to Everton.
The player’s father decided to take the entire family so the children would have a better education. Pedro, also known as Pepe, is delighted to be at the club: “My expectation of playing at Everton is to win many titles, to be able to develop my football, to learn more and more,” he told Globo Esporte.
“The difference for Charlton is that Everton has a large structure, all the coaches were former club players, they are famous.”
“So it has everything so that I can learn new things, more and more, and always evolve. I spent two years at Charlton, I did well and stood out. And that opportunity came now, which was good for my family too.
“I love these challenges, especially with a big club like this, which has great players like Lukaku and Mirallas. It’s a dream, it’s a dream that I have since I was a child.”
Pedro completed the transfer earlier this year, and his family are still to complete their move from London to Liverpool, where they’ll all live together.
Despite being well adapted now, the change of style was a shock for him when he arrived at Charlton. The quick English game was the biggest surprise: “At first it was a little different, when I got here I was watching everyone running, running… And I said, “How do these guys have that physicality?” They run a lot.
“Then I learned more and more, getting used to it, and since I’ve been here for three years, I’ve gotten used to it. I’m well used to here, but what I take from Brazil is the skills. My main characteristic is to attack, seek the goal and give assists to always help my team.”
Now 15 years old, Pedro is living his dream at Everton, and he’ll hope it gets even better with progression through the club’s youth ranks.
