In the summer of 2022, as soon as Fulham got promotion to the Premier League, they chose to loan Rodrigo Muniz to Middlesbrough.
The striker hadn’t played much in the Whites’ campaign in the Championship, so they kept him in the league by letting him get some more experience at Boro.
As Rodrigo Muniz this week spoke to Brazilian outlet Globo Esporte, he ended up mentioning his time at Middesbrough and the tough moments he had there.
The striker recalled that things didn’t go as planned at Boro, and he even ended up receiving an offer to return to Brazil at that time.
“When Renato called me, I really wanted to go. It was January last year, I was at Middlesbrough and I wasn’t playing. It was difficult. I used to come home and cry. My wife held my arm and said: ‘You’ve always said you want to play here, why are you going back to Brazil now?’
“Together we bought into the idea of staying, playing for another year, and thank God things happened.”
He said that even though his season at Middlesbrough wasn’t the best, Fulham boss Marco Silva still chose to give him a chance.
“Unfortunately, things didn’t work out at Middlesbrough. I played all the first games, but when the manager changed, some things happened at the club that I had nothing to do with, but they got back to me. Marco Silva (Fulham’s coach) called me at the end of the season and said he wanted to count on me. Things hadn’t happened, but he trusted me.”
Muniz also talked about a chant from Fulham fans which mentions his spell at Middlesbrough and the funny turnaround that his story had.
“At the last match they sang the song. They say: ‘He went to Middlesbrough, didn’t play, came back to Fulham and is making his mates dance. And he’s a magician’ and whatnot. And they swear, which isn’t nice, right (laughs). But the song was great.”
In his season at Middlesbrough, Muniz made 17 appearances, and only scored two goals. Between Christmas 2022 and the end of the season in 2023, he only made one appearance in the Championship, with the club making it clear he was not in their plans.
