Raphinha on joining Sporting: Had to fake injury... | OneFootball

Raphinha confessed that the process that saw him leave Guimarães to join Sporting was quite complicated. The Brazilian winger, who played for the Alvalade Club - and was close to joining Cristiano Ronaldo - gave an interview to ESPN, where he talked about the period he spent in Portuguese football.

"I had already been in Portugal for two and a half years and was following his [Jorge Jesus] work at Sporting, even without knowing that I could go to Sporting. When I learned about Sporting's interest, they presented me with the project and such, saying that it was a great desire of the coach. It was very good," Raphinha began to explain about the green and white interest in his services.

The Barcelona winger continued and revealed the difficulties that existed in the process: "Sporting wanted me to join before the winter window, but V. Guimarães did not accept that option. I briefly spoke with Jorge Jesus, I even played against him on the last day of the window. I even had conversations with Sporting staff, who told me to fake an injury, pretend something to avoid playing. And I said that my professionalism was above everything."

"They quickly understood who they were dealing with. I later spoke with the coach, he said he wanted to count on me the following season, but unfortunately it didn't happen. I arrived there later, and he was no longer the coach," continued Raphinha, who ended up joining Sporting only some time after the initial interest from the lions.

He concluded with a word about Jorge Jesus: "I have affection for him. We met a few times afterward. There was really that taste of having worked with him, and I like working with the best."

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