Rafael Leão reveals Benfica issues that led him to sign for Sporting | OneFootball

Rafael Leão – who recently had his celebration performed at Alvalade – ended up becoming one of the products of Sporting’s academy, but before that, he had an ‘episode’ with Benfica, which ultimately led him to decide to head to the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy while still in the youth ranks.

"Benfica wanted me to sign. My father said yes, he’s also a Benfica fan. I signed for Benfica, but at that time my father didn’t have a car, so I had no way to get to training. Benfica said, ‘Don’t worry, sign the contract, we have a van ready to take your son from school to training’. I waited for that van," he began telling on the ‘SayLessGlobal’ podcast.

However, the current AC Milan forward confirms that this never happened, which led him to join the Lions: "The van never came. Second and third day, same thing. A week went by and I started crying. I didn’t even get to do a single training session. That’s when we decided to sign with Sporting."

Afterwards, Leão admitted that this episode became a running joke between his father and Rui Costa recently: "A few months ago, my father was with Rui Costa, who is now [Benfica’s] president, and they started laughing. ‘I’m sorry for what happened to your son, for not picking him up....’"

Rafael Leão made his debut for Sporting’s first team in the 2017/18 season, under Jorge Jesus’s decision. In that match, the now Portuguese international scored a goal in the Clássico against Porto, at Estádio do Dragão. His stay at the Alvalade club did not end in the best way, as in the summer of 2018, he ended up unilaterally terminating his contract with the green and whites after the attack on the Academy, signing on a free transfer with Lille.

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