Ex-Sporting academy chief urges patience with Quenda, highlights his age | OneFootball

Geovany Quenda is among the 25 finalists for the Golden Boy award. Luís Martins, former youth academy coordinator at Sporting, praised the work that Rui Borges’ protégé has been doing, but warns about the young prodigy from Alvalade’s tender age.

"It is a sign of Portuguese clubs’ commitment to youth development and to giving these youngsters opportunities in their main squads. He has also had a good run of performances for Portugal’s youth teams, which are an important platform. But, now, we’ll see what space he can carve out for himself at his club to remain visible,” he told Record newspaper.

"His career is still less than halfway through. He is still very young. At this stage, everything is a risk, everything is premature,” notes Luís Martins, who managed Sporting B in the 2016/17 and 2017/2018 seasons. He later served as technical coordinator for Sporting’s U19 and U23 teams until 2019.

The coach pointed out the example of ‘golden boys’ who ultimately did not live up to all the expectations created around their careers: “Renato Sanches and João Félix did not have a path that matched the expectations created by winning the award. At the time, they delivered, but the responsibility placed on them ended up affecting their trajectory,” he concluded.

This season, wearing Sporting’s shirt, Geovany Quenda – valued at 45 million euros – has played in eleven matches, five as a substitute and six as a starter. In the 658 minutes he has played, the Alvalade prodigy already has one goal and four assists to his name.

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