Exclusive | Bristol City’s Neto Borges: ‘Making it to Clermont Foot was a dream come true. There I managed to dispel all doubts that I had about reaching the highest level.’ | OneFootball

It has been a rollercoaster start to the decade for Clermont Foot 63. After seven straight seasons in the French second tier, Clermont Foot earned promotion to Ligue 1 for the first time ever, narrowly avoiding the drop after finishing 17th in the table. Their 112th season, meanwhile, was their greatest; despite losing top scorer Mohamed Bayo, Clermont would finish eighth in the 2022/23 Ligue 1 season, only to regress to the mean and suffer relegation in 2023/24. Today, Les Lanciers sit 12th in Ligue 2, four points above the drop.

One player who has played a pivotal role in Clermont’s journey is Vivaldo ‘Neto’ Borges dos Santos. Born on September 13, 1996, in the small town of Saubara, Brazil, Borges grew up in the isolated northeastern region of Bahia and bounced around Boca Júnior to Itabaiana to Clube Atlético Tubarão, leading the latter to a maiden Copa Santa Catarina title. This earned him a move to Swedish powerhouse Hammarby IF in January 2018, followed by a transfer to Belgian giants Genk. But after struggling for minutes, Borges headed back to Brazil and enjoyed a loan spell at Vasco da Gama, followed by a move to Portuguese side Tondela. Similar to other Brazilian players like Felipe Martins, Borges combined stellar pace with impressive dribbling skills and physical prowess, making him the perfect signing for Clermont Foot in 2022.

Despite opening his Ligue 1 journey by losing 5-0 to Paris Saint-Germain, Borges would emerge as a revelation and establish himself as one of the top left-backs in Ligue 1, winning the Get French Football News left-back of the year back in 2023. Borges scored three goals and six assists in 64 appearances across his time in France, helping Clermont finish in the top half before suffering the drop. He then joined EFL Championship side Middlesbrough for €1.5m, before heading out to Bristol City on loan for the 2025/26 season, where he has since emerged as a crucial figure at left back. Get French Football News spoke to Borges:

When did you realise that football could be more than a hobby, but a job for you?

I always played football since I was five years old. My mother told me that she really likes football, and my father is a musician, so my mother always encouraged me a lot to play football and enrolled me in football schools very early on. So, at five years old, I started playing in my first football school, and since then, I’ve dreamed of being a football player because I wanted to improve my family’s situation. I also wanted to achieve my goals as a professional player. I imagined myself playing in packed stadiums and abroad. I think very early on, my mother planted that seed that I wanted to be a professional player, and since then, I have never changed.

What was it like making the move to Clermont Foot and being able to play in one of the five best leagues in football?

Making it to Clermont was a dream come true. To get where I was from and play in a top five league in the world… I remember going up against established stars like Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr. and Sergio Ramos, players who will be remembered by everyone, players that I used to watch whilst sitting on the couch at home…. that was a really special moment in my career. It was here that I managed to dispel all doubts that I had about reaching the highest level. I worked very hard to achieve this, and I never imagined that I’d reach it, but I was able to put in the work and achieve my dreams. When I made it happen, it was such a relief: I’ve arrived here now to work and see how far I can go. The coach Pascal Gastien was a very important person for me and his staff was very good… I have wonderful memories from there, too. We managed to do things that nobody expected us to do. Absolutely nobody expected us to finish in the top half, but we were able to do so and make everyone at Clermont very happy, and I was also named one of the best fullbacks in Ligue 1. It was definitely a very, very cool period that I have wonderful memories of.

Lastly, you’ve played against some of the greatest players of all time, but who’s the toughest player that you’ve faced in your entire career?

I would say Achraf Hakimi. He’s a very explosive, very fast athlete. I had my debut against Paris Saint-Germain, and he scored the first goal…he passed me, and shot from there as I fell down. I realised that I needed to be focused; otherwise, these guys would do anything they want. I needed to try my best and mitigate the potential danger they could have created, but they ultimately ended up winning 5-0. Hakimi is a special player, the kind of player that you’ve got to be at your best to play against…he’s the toughest opponent I’ve faced.

This exclusive interview is a repost from Get French Football News and can be found HERE

GFN | Zach Lowy