Meet 18-year-old Santos striker Arthur Gomes, managed by Neymar’s father

  Arthur Gomes, 18-year-old striker, has played two games for the professional team of Santos. Any Brazilian boy who excels in the youth system of a club mainly because of the ability with the ball at his feet would have to deal with the comparisons with Neymar. Promoted to the senior team of Santos by […]
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sambafoot_admin
2016-12-06 20:00:00

 

Arthur Gomes, 18-year-old striker, has played two games for the professional team of Santos.
Any Brazilian boy who excels in the youth system of a club mainly because of the ability with the ball at his feet would have to deal with the comparisons with Neymar. Promoted to the senior team of Santos by coach Dorival Júnior and with two matches played in the Brasileirão, the young striker"s career is managed by NR Sports, company of th father of Neymar. But Nilda, Arthur"s mother, was not only responsible for the settlement with Neymar"s company, but also for arranging a trial with Santos, when he was 12 years old. It was she who called the club, without revealing to be Arthur"s mother, and said about the young boy, playing barefoot through the streets of Uberlândia. Arthur was approved by the club after just one training.
Arthur told Lance!: “I played a charity game in Uberlândia and Neymar was there. Neymar"s father was in the stands and my mother was watching, too. Then my mother, as she is, talked to him. She said that I was at Santos and explained my situation. We were going through a very difficult time here in Santos, living in a hostel with a bed for four. She called and he started to take care of my career."
Arthur explained his arrival to Santos: “I"m from Uberlândia and I came to stop here after a test that my mother arranged for me. At first she did not say she was my mother, she said there was a very good boy who was playing in the street there and said she knew the parents of this child, which was me. They believed it, and Bebeto was the supervisor of the U13 side. Then she brought me, I came at the age of 12. I did the test, the first day I passed, and she told Bebeto that she was my mother. It is a story that is admirable because my mother is a warrior. She always took it for evaluation, she always knew how to handle the clubs. It was God in our lives who blessed and made everything right."
Arthur said about Santos coach Dorival Júnior, who promoted him to the senior side: “They always say he likes the youth system. It motivated me a lot, and it was left to me to show what I know. I try to be better today than I was yesterday, giving my best, and this motivates me every day to know that they like youngsters from the base. In the U17 side, we had a game and he [Dorival] always went to watch our games. Then there was a game that I played very well and the people at the base said that Dorival had liked it a lot and wanted to get me up for training. But it was in the U20s that he really raised me, I started to train. I faced every training like a game, alongside guys that I always dreamed to play with… Lucas Lima, Ricardo Oliveira, and Thiago Maia, with whom I played at the base."
About the comparisons with Neymar, he added: “People sometimes say that, but I try to put it aside and worry only about playing football. Because if you keep thinking about it, you don"t play. You have to be happy. I go on the field to have fun."

Arthur Gomes, 18-year-old striker, has played two games for the professional team of Santos.

Any Brazilian boy who excels in the youth system of a club mainly because of the ability with the ball at his feet would have to deal with the comparisons with Neymar. Promoted to the senior team of Santos by coach Dorival Júnior and with two matches played in the Brasileirão, the young striker"s career is managed by NR Sports, company of th father of Neymar. But Nilda, Arthur"s mother, was not only responsible for the settlement with Neymar"s company, but also for arranging a trial with Santos, when he was 12 years old. It was she who called the club, without revealing to be Arthur"s mother, and said about the young boy, playing barefoot through the streets of Uberlândia. Arthur was approved by the club after just one training.

Arthur told Lance!: “I played a charity game in Uberlândia and Neymar was there. Neymar"s father was in the stands and my mother was watching, too. Then my mother, as she is, talked to him. She said that I was at Santos and explained my situation. We were going through a very difficult time here in Santos, living in a hostel with a bed for four. She called and he started to take care of my career."

Arthur explained his arrival to Santos: “I"m from Uberlândia and I came to stop here after a test that my mother arranged for me. At first she did not say she was my mother, she said there was a very good boy who was playing in the street there and said she knew the parents of this child, which was me. They believed it, and Bebeto was the supervisor of the U13 side. Then she brought me, I came at the age of 12. I did the test, the first day I passed, and she told Bebeto that she was my mother. It is a story that is admirable because my mother is a warrior. She always took it for evaluation, she always knew how to handle the clubs. It was God in our lives who blessed and made everything right."

Arthur said about Santos coach Dorival Júnior, who promoted him to the senior side: “They always say he likes the youth system. It motivated me a lot, and it was left to me to show what I know. I try to be better today than I was yesterday, giving my best, and this motivates me every day to know that they like youngsters from the base. In the U17 side, we had a game and he [Dorival] always went to watch our games. Then there was a game that I played very well and the people at the base said that Dorival had liked it a lot and wanted to get me up for training. But it was in the U20s that he really raised me, I started to train. I faced every training like a game, alongside guys that I always dreamed to play with… Lucas Lima, Ricardo Oliveira, and Thiago Maia, with whom I played at the base."

About the comparisons with Neymar, he added: “People sometimes say that, but I try to put it aside and worry only about playing football. Because if you keep thinking about it, you don"t play. You have to be happy. I go on the field to have fun."