Portuguese newspaper O Jogo today features a pretty long interview with Sporting goalkeeper Luís Maximiliano.
Following his debut for the club this season, he’s already made 21 appearances for the Lions, and has become their number one choice for the position.
Since Maximiliano had been waiting for his chance for a long time, his career has been compared to that of Rui Patrício, who now plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Both players joined Sporting when they were teenagers, and had a nice story until becoming a club star. Maximiliano was asked about it, and says Patrício has helped him a little to have good development at the club.
“I worked with Rui for some time, about three years. He always tried to pass on his experience to me. Because what I was experiencing was similar to what he experienced. He started like me at the academy, along the same path. I arrived at the age of 13 and dreamed of being Sporting’s goalkeeper. I think Rui looked at me as if I was him in the past.”
But despite the similarities, Luis Maximiliano makes it clear he doesn’t want to be seen as the new Rui Patrício, as he plans to make a name for himself.
“But getting to this point, getting to the first team, I want you to look at me like Luís Maximiano, because we’re not the same, despite the fact that the route is similar. There are comparisons, a similar path, I have a career to do and he is doing his. In technical terms… I don’t like to go into detail, each one has its own characteristics. He’s a great goalkeeper and I work to be one.
“I like to watch the games again, see what I did well or less well and talk to the coaches. But if he has anything to say to help me it’s obvious that I listen, he has great experience, he has a lot of quality and of course I will always listen to him.”
Rui Patrício joined Sporting back in 2000, and only made his debut for the club in 2006. He had 460 appearances for the Lions before moving to Wolverhampton in 2018.
