Arsenal youngster Wellington Silva insists that he still has his heart set on a career in England, but admits that he has to stay focused on doing well for Alcoyano in the Spanish second tier if he is to impress Arsene Wenger.
The Brazilian teenager was signed by the Gunners in January 2011 from homeland side Fluminense having impressed at the under-17 World Cup in 2009, but has since spent two spells in Spain having not secured a work permit to stay in the UK.
Loaned to Levante in the second half of last season, the attacker returned to the Valencia-based club for the 2011/12 campaign but has since dropped a division to play for Alcoyano after rumours of disciplinary problems.
Speaking to Transfermarkt.co.uk about his future, the 19-year-old spoke openly about his progress in the last 18 months.
“I am working hard to prove that I am able to play for Arsenal´s first team. That is my goal.
“I am an Arsenal player and I wish to play for the first team there. At the moment I am only focused to help Alcoyano though, to finish the season in a good position.”
Touching on his time at Levante, Wellington made clear he enjoyed his spell despite not garnering many first team minutes. Indeed, ignoring suggestions that he was forced out due to poor behaviour he stressed:
“During the time I spent at Levante I was very professional and did my job properly, always training hard and being ready for the team. For that reason the manager decided to stick to the same team and I wasn´t first choice.
“It was a great experience for me. I learnt a lot there. Levante is a great team.”
Having briefly featured for the Arsenal Reserves before having a work permit application rejected, Wellington admitted that it was frustrating being so close to the Gunners first team set-up while knowing he had little chance of being involved.
“It was very difficult. It feels like something is really close and really far at the same time. I hope soon in the future Arsenal can sort it out and I am sure I will make Arsenal fans and the club very happy with my football.
“Arsenal have a scout who follows all my games and reports to Mr. Wenger. The football director is in contact with me regularly.”
While Wellington may have to wait for a chance to shine in the Premier League, the youngster hasn’t given up hope on taking London by storm in the near future. With one eye on the 2012 Olympics in the summer, the left-winger maintained that he is in with a shout of selection for Brazil.
“The Brazilian national team is still my dream. I am hoping to get a call soon and want to play at the Olympic Games in London this year.”
This lad really needs to be in our academy. Any disciplinary issues would soon be sorted out. Just hope he can get a visa soon.
if it is just disciplinary problem i guess Wenger can handle him for sure i hope he turned to be a gr8 player we need such talents
Hope you’re right, we didn’t manage to sort out the disciplinary issues of Bentley and Pennant and to a lesser extend Bendtner.
I think the issue here is that he’s a boisterous, fun-loving young lad who is a long way from home. He signed for Arsenal, possibly expecting to end up in London, but instead has had to go on various loan spells elsewhere. So, he probably feels a little in limbo.
We did manage to sort out the disciplinary issues of Van Persie though. He had a very short fuse when he joined us and most predicted that he’d be booted out soon because of his disciplinary problems. And look how THAT turned out!
Hoping things work out well with the kid.
It’s confusing how people will say he’s done this and that and suddenly the player himself comes out and says “No I actually never did this”, while there’s just no clue at all in finding out who’s telling the truth anymore.
On another note, it’d be cool to have an all-Brazilian left wing.
I think people rated him more than ryo may be he is better i dont know. But ryo showed his worth in his spell at feyenord which earned him right for that special talent slot. I hope wellington joins us soon he will surely improve under Wenger but he has to prove his worth to be an Arsenal player.
I don’t know what to say about this boy but all I know seeing what he can do on the pitch while he was at the U17 World Cup. The boy is something special and you can tell by the way he wants to make the London fans, the team and everyone involve in Arsenal happy by giving them his best football. I still believe that when one is given that opportunity that person will grab it with both hands and I hope this boy will do the same. Him, Wilshere, Ramsey, OX, Ryo this team is going places. Another… Read more »
Agreed about Ozyakup…he is immense
I hope he is patient enough to stick around. Ozyakup looks the biz in the reserves. its just whether or not he is willing to wait……..
i was pretty excited to see him kitting up against AC Milan at 3-0. i would of hoped he would of come on instead of Chamakh and park.
I’m a little confused…
“During the time I spent at Levante I was very professional and did my job properly, always training hard and being ready for the team. For that reason the manager decided to stick to the same team and I wasn´t first choice.”
Is Levante’s first XI made up of lazy unprofessionals that aren’t ready to play?!?! If that’s the case, then I should ask for a trial. Let’s hope Wellington’s thoughts were lost in translation.
Isn’t he the one that used to get high on pizza’s ? 😉
Give Wellington the boot!
The Golden Boot? Maybe when he’s older, mate.
It’s really amazing to think of the amount of young and exciting talent we have at this club. Awesome.
Agreed Mike. We’ve always had some great young players at the club and have always built for the future but something feels different about the current lot. Maybe having players like Jack, Ox, Ramsey and even Theo along with our relatively young back 5, we seem to have a lot of top young players at the same time. Some will argue that experienced heads are needed but if we can manage to keep the current lot together along with players such as Wellington, Joel Campbell and Miyachi who all could be top players then the future could be very bright.