We, football fans, may follow the sport everyday, watching games from all over Europe, even getting to know some clubs we may get to call ‘alternative’. But what we’re used to seeing are millionaire players having a chance to play at the top level.
So imagine how it feels for players who get close to reaching that level, even close to signing for Manchester City, but are now back to having football as a regular, hard working job. Sometimes not even earning enough to live comfortably.
That’s the life story of Edson Pires, a Guinean player whose short career has been told by Portuguese newspaper O Jogo.
The 21-year-old showed some big potential as a kid, having impressed several big clubs, but was never lucky enough to sign for any of them. At the age of 11, already in Portugal, he couldn’t join Porto because he didn’t have enough documents to be registered by the Dragons.
Pires later played for Benfica, where he had the chance to train alongside the likes of Gonçalo Guedes and Renato Sanches. Interviewed by O Jogo, he claims he was one of the best there. But he failed to get a professional contract at the Eagles as well.
“I did not sign it,” Pires told the newspaper. “First they said they were going to sign and I even talked to the person who was dealing with matters related to my career. They said I was signing a five-year contract. Three training and two more. But then I did not sign it.
“There was some confusion, I believe, because of money. But I did not quite understand what happened. I even called my father, who was already unemployed for seven years, to give him the news and he was all happy. But then there was some confusion and I started to stop playing and everything. I was happy, I wanted to help my family, but I did not sign it.”
That’s when Manchester City came as an opportunity. Pires told O Jogo that he’s been tested at the club as well, but for some reason, they gave up on giving him a contract.
“As I didn’t sign (for Benfica), I left and went with an agent to England to try my luck at Manchester City. I did three practice sessions and in the end they said that I would stay because the manager had liked me. But the next day they were saying the opposite.”
The player also had a shot at Spanish side Tenerife, but couldn’t join them either. What makes his story sad is that these days he’s playing in a semi-pro league in Portugal, currently at Pedras Salgadas.
Pires currently makes €500 a month at the club. Half of that amount goes to his parents in Guinea, as neither of them work. What is left from the player’s midfielder’s is only enough for him to live with a friend in Portugal.
When the season ends, and the payments are over, Pires finds a summer job in some hotel in Lisbon so he has the conditions to survive during the break, and even save some cash, since the salary at a regular job is better than in semi-pro football.
But the dream is still not over. As he tries to impress in the Campeonato de Portugal, Pires expects that some professional club is watching him, and can offer him a contract soon enough.
