The Portuguese press is starting to take Rui Patrício’s departure from Sporting as pretty much done.
The strong interest from Napoli and Wolverhampton Wanderers has been in the news every day, and the feeling in the country is that the club captain is indeed on his way to another league.
Proof of that is that today, newspaper Diário de Notícias has a story asking if Patrício would do better in Italy or in England.
And instead of giving their own opinion, they’ve asked two specialists to talk about it. One of them is the former Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff, and the other, the Southampton right-back Cedric Soares.
Soares played with Patrício at Sporting for a few years, and since he now has three seasons experience in the Premier League, he was a pretty good choice to talk about it.
“Rui has a lot of quality, he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and would fit in any league,” Cedric told Diário de Notícias.
“As a friend and former teammate, I wish him the best, and if he decides to come to England he will be welcome. Rui is able to play anywhere, he has demonstrated this in several competitions and even in the national team. He’s been very well in recent years.”
“He’s someone who tries to always see the positive side of things, even at the less good times. At Sporting we went through some complicated games, but he always saw something positive. Mentally he’s very strong and a great example for young people who think of being goalkeepers. He’s someone that you can always trust, whether in the day-to-day or on the pitch, in the goal.”
Diário de Notícias was one of the outlets who broke the news about Wolverhampton’s interest, so it’s no surprise that they mention it again.
Even though Patrício had been linked to other English sides in the past, only Wolves are being named this time, making it clear that if the player is moving to the Premier League, then it should be to Molineux.
