Everton loanee João Virgínia was interviewed this week by Sporting’s podcast ‘DNA de Leão’, and talked about the spell he’s been having in Lisbon.
It had been a long time since the goalkeeper had left his home country, ans he moved from Benfica to Arsenal’s academy still in 2015. Then he ended up playing for Reading and the Toffees.
Those few games for English first teams were recalled by Virgínia in the interview, with him pointing out the difference there is from Portuguese football.
“Portugal has nothing to do with England. Jumps from the bench, the referee sends you away. You can’t complain like we do here. It doesn’t give a good result,” via Mais Futebol.
Virgínia also talked about his move back to Portugal, claiming the English weather had been a big issue for him over the years.
“The Premier weighed in to go to England. On the other side [Benfica] there were a lot of goalkeepers, I thought it wasn’t well organised, I wasn’t happy, I had the opportunity and I went. But I was very happy to return to Portugal. I was tired of the rain… that sometimes even causes depression” (via O Jogo).
Now it turns out Virgínia may get used to that weather again, because his stay at Sporting is still not guaranteed.
The Lions have an option to buy him from Everton, and despite his seven games for the club this season, that decision has yet to be made. There are still a few months left for him to convince them of doing so.
