Adrien Silva on Sporting’s ‘stolen’ 15/16 title: A delicate matter | OneFootball

Adrien Silva has recently ended his football career. In his latest interview, the former Sporting captain reveals the sorrow he feels for never having been a champion with the lions, also addressing the 2015/16 national championship, which became one of the most controversial in Portuguese football.

"[Laughs] that's a delicate matter... From coach Leonardo Jardim, through Marco Silva, and even in the first season with coach Jorge Jesus, we were always clearly superior. In the end, it didn't turn out as I most wanted, which was to win the League. It's something that always slipped away from me... [laughs] But on the field, we showed that we deserved it," he began by saying, in statements to the newspaper Record, about 15/16.

Still on that season, the former Portuguese international was also asked if it was Bryan Ruiz's miss against Benfica that thwarted the lions' chance of winning the title: "No. That would be very unfair to Bryan. It was a miss that, because it was against a rival, became media sensational."

Regarding the sorrow he feels for never having been crowned champion with Sporting, Adrien Silva revealed: "Over time, I digested it a bit more, but I became obsessed with it. Very, very obsessed. Even too much. We have to be competitive and ambitious, but there was a time when I was obsessed with it."

In the same interview, the former captain of the Alvalade Club recalled 2017, when he started the season at Sporting and transferred to Leicester, but his registration was delayed by 14 seconds: "That would be another interview... I'll leave a part for when I write my book. The negotiations were late, and that didn't help. Then, it has to do with people's common sense, in doing the right things, in accepting my decision. It was a very delicate situation and didn't end right there. It was a long process. Leicester tried to return me, but there wasn't such a clause. I spent weeks in a hotel, unable to train. In fact, I had to train alone until the final decision came."

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