João Simões beats the competition at Sporting and picks up award | OneFootball

João Simões is expected to return to the starting lineup for Sporting - Alverca, next Friday, October 31. The young midfielder seems to have sufficiently convinced Rui Borges and, by all indications, will be the coach’s first choice to partner with Morten Hjulmand in the Lions’ midfield.

According to the newspaper A Bola, Rui Borges has already made the decision to promote the 18-year-old midfielder in the green and white hierarchy, which ends up leaving Giorgi Kochorashvili in his shadow, despite the young Lion’s more discreet start to the season.

The midfielder, trained in Alcochete, has surpassed the Georgian in the race and is now on equal footing with Hidemasa Morita in the battle for a spot in the starting eleven. At this moment, the same source reveals that João Simões is actually slightly ahead of the Japanese international, who is going through a period of lower performance and is approaching the end of his contract, with no renewal in sight.

Rui Borges, nevertheless, is counting on Morita for the rest of the season, but intends to give more space and minutes to the young Lion, recognizing his intensity, versatility, and recovery ability—qualities that free up Hjulmand for a more offensive role.

This season, wearing the Sporting shirt, João Simões—valued at 6 million euros—has played five matches. The midfielder, trained at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy, has 235 minutes: 142 in the Champions League and 93 in Liga Portugal Betclic.

The match, counting for the tenth round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, against the team led by Custódio, will be played at Estádio José Alvalade at 8:15 p.m.

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