Rúben Dias recalls emotional Benfica farewell | OneFootball

Rúben Dias, former Benfica defender, recalled his emotional farewell to the red emblem after spending 12 years with the Eagles and moving to Manchester City, England, during the summer transfer window of the 2020/2021 season.

"Every word I say to a teammate or to the group is heartfelt. That’s why I got emotional", he revealed in an interview with Canal 11’s program ‘Soltinhos pelo Mundo’. Rúben is a teammate of Bernardo Silva – who scored one of the goals in the decisive victory against Liverpool last Sunday.

The 28-year-old center-back also recalled his journey to establish himself with the “Citizens.” "This whole process is tough, intense, and demanding, but you reach that moment of transition to a professional team and come to an important conclusion: you’ve had a brilliant journey, but that gives you nothing more than a starting point for this new stage. That’s the principle I applied when I arrived at Manchester City: everything I had achieved at Benfica was worth zero", he said.

The Portuguese international never imagined he would have the career he has now: "When I was a kid, I had dreams, but I never imagined this whole scenario. I had the ambition to achieve something extraordinary, but I never visualized all of this. In any case, there’s still a long way to go", he admitted.

This season, Rúben Dias – valued at 60 million euros – has played 27 matches so far: 22 in the Premier League and five in the Champions League. In the 2,196 minutes he was an option for Pep Guardiola, the former Benfica player scored two goals.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.