Vitinha admits he felt the impact of his teammate while still with the national team and showers him with praise.
Vitinha showed that he has great admiration for João Neves, dating back to before they even played together. The Portuguese international recalled the first time he was with the former Benfica player in the national team and how his teammate surprised everyone.
“I felt the impact the first time I saw him in the national team, he wasn’t at PSG yet. The impact of him arriving there, super young, but very grown-up, very mature. I know what it cost me, the time it took me to adapt and integrate. And he was very natural. You could immediately notice a strong and marked personality. It’s difficult to arrive and have that, and he did. We are very welcoming, he could have been more shy, but he was always very gentlemanly, despite his age, Vitinha began, in an interview with Canal 11. The PSG midfielder revealed that he pushed for João Neves to sign for the Parisians and admitted that Bruno Fernandes also tried to bring his compatriot to Manchester United. “I tried to convince him to come here, even though he didn’t know me very well. I gave him the nudge because I knew it would be very good for us. From what I saw… I knew PSG was interested, but I told him, ‘João, if you can, I know there will be others trying to persuade you, but I’d love for you to come.’ Bruno did that, one hundred percent [laughs]. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t succeed, because he came here and it was a good move. “I wasn’t a visionary; those who shared the field with him in those early training sessions saw it. I saw him on television, but I thought he was an even better player. I saw other things, other nuances of his game. You’ve already seen some things, especially in the offensive part; he’s already scored a hat trick, he has incredible details and plays, but he manages to do that many times, for a long time. It wasn’t a one-time thing. Knowing the person behind it, I became even more certain that everything can go well, he concluded.