Tottenham loanee Souza appears to be getting much closer to his first competitive minutes for Porto.
His performance against Deportivo La Coruña, which “left fans drooling”, has already been around over the weekend. The 20-year-old played 80 minutes, got an assist and earned plenty of praise in Portugal.
Monday’s reports now provide a little more explanation for that performance.
Porto have been putting considerable individual work into Souza behind the scenes. And it seems the Tottenham youngster’s response has been about as good as they could have hoped for.
Souza earning points with Farioli
According to O Jogo, Francesco Farioli’s staff have spent plenty of time giving Souza individual instructions since his arrival. The work has covered both the physical and tactical sides of his game.
Porto knew the Brazilian would need patience after his move from Tottenham. He had only made four appearances for Spurs before heading to Portugal.
What seems to have particularly pleased the coaching staff is how Souza has dealt with that situation.
O Jogo say he’s embraced the process with “great commitment”. His maturity and humility have also impressed, while he continues to show a real hunger to learn and play.
That combination has seen him “gain points” with Farioli despite his lack of competitive minutes. So the newspaper believes those minutes are now getting closer.
Zaidu remains injured, leaving Francisco Moura and Souza as the natural options on the left. That could see the Tottenham man start sharing the position with Moura as Porto’s schedule gets busier.
‘He hasn’t reached his ideal point yet’
Record also spoke to coach Orlando Ribeiro, who worked with Souza earlier in his development.
Interestingly, Ribeiro sometimes used him as a winger. He believes the youngster’s biggest strengths remain obvious when he’s going forward.
“He is better in the attacking phase. He has vision, understands attacking dynamics very well, passes well and is quick,” he said.
There has been progress at the other end of the pitch too.
“He evolved. You could already see that with Santos’ first team. He didn’t lose his attacking characteristics, but he improved.”
Ribeiro doesn’t think Tottenham or Porto are dealing with the finished product yet.
“He hasn’t reached his ideal point yet. He’s still developing, but I see a very promising future for him.”
The coach believes Souza’s career could reach a “very high level” once he enters his peak years between 26 and 31.
Friday provided some evidence that all the work around him is paying off. And Souza is doing enough every day to turn that promising unofficial debut into an official one very soon.
