AC Milan striker Rafael Leao admits he signed for Benfica as a junior before joining Sporting CP.
Leao says Benfica simply forget about him just weeks into the deal.
He recalled to Vice: Where I lived there was someone who worked for a club nearby, and in front of the house there was a garden where I always played with the other children. I was always there playing, he saw me and asked me if I played somewhere.
I told him no and that my dad was there and he was looking for a club to start. He told me to go to his team and do a couple of training sessions, then we would see. I went there, did a training session and started at that club, it's called Mora.
Three weeks later I signed with Benfica, but I didn't have the chance to go to training because Lisbon was far away, and they told me to stay calm, that someone would come to accompany me to training every day.
I signed with Benfica, waited a week: they never arrived. A week later my dad contacted them and said I was going to another club. So I went to Sporting, and then from there There were people close to me who said I could go far.
I had the talent but then in training I liked football, but in my head, I didn't know where I could go in the future. Then there was a meeting with me and my dad, they told us that maybe I should leave because what I was doing up to that moment was not going well.
So maybe I should have found another club. And that's when I got it into my head that I had to wake up and concentrate on working and putting myself in a position to get to the top. I want to win a lot of things, important things, be important in my club and win individual trophies."