Pote says he needed one second to leave Sporting, praises Rui Costa | OneFootball

Pedro Gonçalves revealed that he needed very little time to decide to leave Sporting and join Fiorentina in the last transfer window. The Portugal international wanted to remain in European football and felt that the Florence club’s project offered everything he was looking for in the new stage of his career.

In an interview with ‘La Nazione’, Pote admitted that he already felt ready to leave Portugal, but ruled out a move to Saudi Arabia early on. “I was ready to leave Portugal, but I wanted to keep playing in Europe, in countries like England, Spain or Italy. Saudi Arabia? There was something, but it didn’t interest me. I wanted to stay in the football that matters and, in that sense, Fiorentina was a perfect choice.”

The speed of the decision was also clear in the words of the former Sporting player. “When they told me about Fiorentina, I said yes in an instant. The first contact was between my agent and director Paratici. It took me a second to accept,” said the 28-year-old playmaker, who scored another goal.

Pote was also asked about the Portuguese legacy left by Rui Costa in Florence and took the opportunity to joke about the historic rivalry between Sporting and Benfica. “If you remember, we wore two very... let’s say different shirts!” he said, before praising the former Portugal international’s career in Italy.

“In any case, Rui wrote beautiful pages in Fiorentina’s history, I know that well. He did a lot. Another Portuguese player who came through here and whom I liked was Nuno Gomes, but...,” added Pedro Gonçalves, recalling two names strongly linked to the Lions’ rivals.

The player on loan from Sporting prefers, however, to look at those references as motivation to build his own story in Florence. “Talking about champions, about those who did important things in the history of our team, makes me think about the future, about what I could do. In other words, football, sport is a constant challenge and, so, why not think that one day I can do something more?” he concluded.

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