Brazilian starlet Wellington Silva has been described as “one of the best players” Fluminense has produced by youth team coach Bruno Costa following his side’s 2-0 second leg defeat in the Junior State Championship.
Wellington was called upon by Costa for the final but failed to make a key difference as Vasco ended up 2-1 aggregate winners, but Bruno Costa has defended Xerém, Fluminense’s Academy, insisting they should be proud of what they have achieved since he took his current role in 2007.
“Since assuming management of Xerém in 2007, we have had players called up for Brazil at many different levels, from the U13s to the U20s. In this period, we sent over 30 players to the professional staff, such as Maicon, Alan and Digão, among others. I believe we are on track.
In the last three years, we won 29 titles, some of paramount importance. In 2007, we became the first Brazilian club to lift the trophy in Under-17 Milk Cup in Northern Ireland. In 2008, we won the Triple Crown Carioca when we were champions of the three main categories (infant, juvenile and junior), and even won national and world stages of the Manchester United Premier Cup Under 15s, when the boy Wellington Silva shined as one of the best players that Xerém have produced in recent years . In addition, Fluminense is the current state juvenile champion. This year, we won the World Cup Under-17 BMG, beating Cruzeiro in the final. We prepare players at Xerém so they reach the first team used to playing great games and winning titles.”
Wellington Silva will now return to training with the first team and is targeting a place in the starting eleven having lost his place since the arrival of coach Muricy Ramalho, but knows he will have to be patient.
“Every player wants to play from the beginning of the game, and I’m no different. I respect my club mates and the options of the coach Muricy, but I work hard to start. I will always fight for it. If the coach selects me, I will grab the opportunity with all the force I can and devote myself to the utmost to win my place in the team.
The coach always pays special attention to players who are not playing. As he has said, this is very important for players who are out of the lineup. Therefore, strong work during training to try me out. Those are the moments I have to show my football and draw the attention of the manager.”
Wellington is set to visit Arsenal in the near future ahead of his move to England in January, having so far made a total of 17 appearances for Tricolor this year.
