Rui Borges reacts to no reply from Sporting target: patience | OneFootball

On the sidelines of the preview for the match against Estrela da Amadora, Rui Borges was asked about Souleymane Faye’s situation at Sporting, as he has been facing some difficulties adapting. With that in mind, the coach spoke about the progress he has seen from the winger since arriving at Alvalade, as well as Rafael Nel.

"He arrived in January at a stage when the team is already settled and there isn’t much time to train. He’s a young lad coming from a different context, he will need time to adapt, and we have to be a bit patient. That’s natural, and I’ve always said he was one for the future. Unfortunately, Luis picked up this injury, which we didn’t want, but it’s normal, given the step up he has taken and the demands of Sporting, that adaptation is only natural," he began by saying.

Rui Borges then addressed the subject of Rafael Nel and whether he is ahead of Fotis Ioannidis in Sporting’s pecking order: "You’re already trying to predict the future, forget that, I look at the present. Nel is delivering right now, and when Fotis comes back he’ll be another option and give me those selection headaches, but for now I’m not thinking about that. As for whether Faye gets minutes or not, he is still adapting here, based on the response he gives every day. Unfortunately, as I said, there isn’t much training time to build connections with the team and with the dynamics. But that’s natural, he doesn’t have that time or that training to do it. From what we see and understand, we give the minutes we think we should give. Right now the kid has been growing, he comes from a different context with completely different demands, and I think he understands that too," he said.

At this point, Rui Borges’ side now have 68 points and remain second in the Liga Portugal Betclic table. Porto (73) are in first place (with one more game played). Benfica are third with 66, but they too have played one more match.

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