Vieira says Sporting are fuming over Palhinha's move to Benfica | OneFootball

Nuno Vieira, director of 'O Jogo', believes that João Palhinha’s move to Benfica has left Sporting particularly hurt, especially given the midfielder’s long connection to the Lions. The analyst sums up the impact of the switch in blunt terms.

"Palhinha leaves Alvalade in flames. After 10 years linked to Sporting, no one ever suspected that the midfielder was, after all, a Benfica member. It was not enough for the Lions to lose the race to their rivals — now they have been hit by this blow from where it was least expected. This season’s duel promises to be a very heated one," reads the sports daily.

The expert believes the signing takes on special significance because of the Portuguese international’s history and the fact that Sporting also tried to secure his return: "Players switching clubs is an everyday occurrence in domestic and international football, but Benfica’s capture of João Palhinha has an extra touch of cruelty toward their neighbour and historic Segunda Circular rival. It is public knowledge that Sporting also fought to bring the Portuguese international back to Alvalade, where he spent ten years of his career and the home that served as a springboard to other heights, such as the Premier League and the giant Bayern Munich." Nuno Vieira adds that the Lions "just did not expect one of their own to sign for their oldest rival, especially since he had other very attractive options to continue his career."

Palhinha’s unveiling at Benfica brought another surprise as well, with the release of his Eagles membership card: "The presentation took a while, but it arrived with a bang because of... a membership card. Palhinha went from Alta de Lisboa to Sacavenense, then had a trial at Benfica, but did not stay and ended up joining Sporting at youth level".

It was precisely at Alvalade that Palhinha developed before making the leap into international football: "He grew up and became a man at Alvalade, where the red display of the new star of Marco Silva’s team showing his membership card landed like a bomb. Obviously, everyone knows their own life and their childhood and teenage passions, but this highly unexpected scenario only serves to stir emotions around the footballer even more."

Finally, Nuno Vieira is already looking ahead to Palhinha’s reunion with Sporting, which will take place at Alvalade in the penultimate round of the league: "The Alvalade derby will only come on the second weekend of May and, until then, Palhinha will certainly have a big influence on the Eagles. It remains to be seen what the standings will look like by that penultimate round to understand what the midfielder’s return to the club that developed him will be like. Until then, everything promises to be very heated."

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