Mauro Furtado leaves Benfica after 13 years for Girona, says exit not as he imagined | OneFootball

Mauro Furtado has ended a 13-year association with Benfica, the 18-year-old centre-back will continue his career at Girona. According to Glorioso 1904, he marked his exit with an emotional Instagram farewell after helping Portugal win the Under-17 World Cup.

Furtado joined Benfica as a child aged four or five and spent almost his entire development at the club. As a new chapter begins, he reflected on the long path he has travelled in red.

He described Benfica as the only club he had known, the only shirt he had worn and his footballing home. It was where he experienced first dreams, early triumphs and defeats, forged friendships and gathered memories he expects to carry for ever.

He acknowledged the departure did not unfold as he once imagined, yet stressed gratitude for everything the club had given and taught him. Some things are beyond a player’s control, he observed.

Furtado noted that many people shaped him, some through football, others through life lessons or timely support, and he carries a piece of each. He now prepares to begin his Girona adventure.

Source: Glorioso 1904

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”