Jefté stunned by Palmeiras interest, desperate to join Abel | OneFootball

Palmeiras has introduced its 11th reinforcement for the season. It's the left back Jefté. The player, who was at Rangers, from Scotland, revealed that he was surprised by the first contacts from the club and made it clear from the start his desire to join the squad led by coach Abel Ferreira.

"It took me by surprise, yes, because until the middle of last month I didn't know about Palmeiras' interest. When my representatives said there was (interest), I was shocked... I didn't imagine. But I said I wanted to come anyway. I think my arrival was very good for me and my career," he said.

Jefté's reception in the squad

Jefté was the last reinforcement announced by Palmeiras, the fourth in this transfer window. Arriving with the season underway, the left back needed to integrate quickly into the squad to be available for the team for the games. He said he was very well received and highlighted the partnership with Lucas Evangelista.

"I'm happy. The people here welcomed me well. Especially Lucas Evangelista, because we have a mutual friend in Scotland, and he said I would come here. So, he (Evangelista) welcomed me with open arms... then the whole squad welcomed me. I was very well received by them, everyone embraced me. It's a very close-knit squad," he declared.

Debut

Even before being introduced, Jefté already showed a bit of what he can do. He was called up in the second half of the 3-0 victory over Sport, for the Brasileirão, at Allianz Parque, last weekend.

"My game is very offensive. I'm a full-back who really likes to attack, really likes one-on-one. I think in my debut you could see a bit of that. I had a couple of balls there that showed a bit, that I'm a full-back who likes to attack the space. But, the first function of the full-back is to mark because the full-back plays in the back four. So you have to have that balance: not only attack, but also protect the goal. I like to play like this and I hope to have more minutes to show a bit more of this also on the field," he assessed.

Admiration for Abel

The 21-year-old left back arrives to compete for the left back position with Piquerez, the current absolute starter. Despite not having received any contact from Abel Ferreira before arriving at Verdão, Jefté revealed that he knew he was a desire of the coach for whom he has great admiration.

"I didn't have any contact before, no calls, he didn't call me. But when the proposal came up, I knew he wanted me here a lot. I was very happy with that because he is a coach I admire a lot. I've always admired him for the work he does. So, when the opportunity came up, I wanted to come no matter what. I talked to my representatives and said I wanted to be here. So, being able to be here and work with Abel is something gratifying. I hope to learn more and more from him," he concluded.

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