The twists and turns that led Neto to north London
Our new keeper talks about the moments and decisions that have shaped his career so far
Neto’s eclectic career to date has taken him to some of the biggest clubs in Europe, and our new Brazilian goalkeeper thanks a series of decisions and lucky interventions that have ended with him fulfilling one of his childhood dreams - to be at Arsenal.
Football was always in the blood for Neto. His dad, Betao, played professionally also as a goalkeeper in Brazil, so he grew up surrounded by the sights and sounds of the sport. He had made his mind up long ago that this was what he wanted for himself as well.
Then it was just a case of going out and making it happen. Though as he explains, there were plenty of hurdles to overcome along the way.
“I always told myself that I should become a football player,” he says. “My dad was a goalkeeper as well, and I always watched him when I was growing up, wearing the kit, so I always wanted to be a goalkeeper from the very beginning.
“So inside of me I always felt I had to be there too. I have to be a football player, become a professional. But when you are on the journey it’s very difficult, because a lot of things can happen to put you on another way. So I’ve been lucky, and I’ve had my family’s support. But always inside of me I had that feeling I should become
a footballer.”
Neto, who joined us on loan from Bournemouth on transfer deadline day, realised very early on that, in order to make it in this profession, he would need bundles of patience and perseverance.
“I remember when I was about 11 or 12, whenever I had some free time I would go and watch the training sessions of the professional goalkeepers or the under-21 keepers,” he says. “I always tried to learn from them, every time, and when the time comes I think the most important thing I’ve learned is the patience and resilience that you need.
“I think that’s very difficult, in our position. So the most important thing is that, the resilience as well as the desire to become something special. You have to be prepared to fight, be ready for every moment, because in football you never know what will happen. It’s a world where anything can happen at any time, and if you are not ready, you have lost your opportunity.”
Having his father around, somebody who had lived through it and knew exactly what was required obviously helped, and he confirms he was always a big influence on the young Neto growing up.
“My dad played for Botafogo in Brazil – that was the biggest club he played for,” Neto explains. “He never really gave me advice on technical stuff or how I should play. His advice was always to support me. He supported the pressure and made me understand that I needed to be focused on what I wanted. He knows how difficult it is to make it, so I was lucky to have him by my side.
“As for the players I looked up to, I had a lot so it’s difficult to say just one. When you are young you watch a lot of players. In Brazil I always watched Dida – he played for Corinthians and when I was young they were my team. So at that time he was a real hero for me.
Then he got the opportunity to advance his career in Europe at AC Milan, and I always looked at that and told myself I could do something similar. I wanted to realise my dream of going to Europe and show my qualities.”
Neto started his professional career with Athletico Paranense, in Curitiba, and was just 22 when he earned his first move to Europe, joining Fiorentina – where former Gunner Emiliano Viviano was also part of the goalkeeping union. After five seasons there, he was picked up by Juventus, as backup to the legendary Gianluigi Buffon, and was part of the squad that won the Serie A title in both 2016 and 2017.
Valencia were the next European giant to come calling, and he was their first-choice stopper for two years, winning the Copa del Rey in 2019. He won that trophy again at next club Barcelona, and had three years there before joining the Premier League with Bournemouth.
"anything can happen at any time, and if you are not ready, you have lost your opportunity”
None of this would have happened though, had his first club not given him the time to develop after he joined them from the Cruzeiro youth system aged 14.
“At the beginning of my career I always struggled because I was very small,” he says. “When I was 12, 13, or 14 I was small and at that moment the goalkeepers in my age group were already very big. I was like a kid next to them, and I needed more time to develop my body.
“When I was about 12, I had to leave my first club because I never got the chance to play. So then I went to Athletico Paranense and they did a lot of tests on my bones to see how tall I would grow potentially. Luckily at the time my coaches gave me more time to develop, because normally they want a see a big beast in goal!
“I remember doing a test when I was 12 and it said that basically the age of my body was like an eight-year-old. I was behind the rest, but then I really felt a change when I was about 16 or 17. That moment was huge for me. I felt my body change, my game changed and that was the moment I thought, ‘Wow, I could do something here.’ In one year I grew 17 centimetres. It was crazy!”
“So you also need luck. I was lucky because I had a club that understood and supported me. Maybe if I had the same situation but the club didn’t wait for me to grow, I’d be doing a different job today! You need a few things to help you along the way, but definitely this was the moment when I felt quicker, stronger and could do something positive.”
Looking back to those early days in Brazil, Neto says what he learned then in training are the same principles that he depends upon now, in the later stages of his career aged 35.
“So far for me nothing has changed,” he says when talking about how he approaches training sessions. “Obviously every country is a bit different, and the mentality is different.
“The big difference is what happens away from the training pitch, the analysis and meetings. I’ve always liked watching my games back to learn from what I did and how I can be better. I think it’s important because the level of goalkeepers today compared to seven or eight years ago is a massive change. So the video and analysis really helps you to perform your best.
“As a goalkeeper you depend on your coach. Every goalkeeping coach has their own philosophy, and that changes, but from the beginning until today, the intensity and quality is always the same."
Something else that has remained constant is his family unit being around him. Now a father himself, he says he always relied upon his parents, who were there to make sure he grasped any opportunity that was presented to him.
“My family are always there for me,” he says. “I try to spend a lot of time with my family so they can help me and advise me. Sometimes when you are young you don’t want to hear that, but your parents want the best for you and they help you.
"Again, you need to be lucky to get the right opportunities, but then you have to make the most of it once you get them. You have to be in the right place, then you come back to being ready for everything. Not just in football, in all aspects of your life. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?”
"You have to be in the right place, then you come back to being ready for everything"
His work ethic and desire to learn, though, seem to be inherent within him and extended to life away from football, into the classroom.
“Yes, in Brazil it’s different,” he says. “You train a lot as a young player, so that means you have to study at night time. So from about 12 to 16 or 17, you train in the morning, then again in the afternoon, and then go to school at night. So I always studied at night, every single day, and it was very difficult.
“In my last year at school I was completely exhausted because sometimes you had to train with the first team as well. Then I started university too, and I went for two weeks, but then I said it was impossible. I had no time to sleep! I didn’t have a car, so I was going on public transport, and I lived at the training ground so it would be about 1am before I could study,” he adds.
“So that was an important moment too, because I chose to focus on my football, and put my career first. Otherwise I would have studied, I was doing a management degree and maybe when I have more time in future I can do it again.”
Looking to the future, he says he’s not sure whether coaching will appeal to him once he has finished playing.
“It’s difficult to say, but right now I think I would say no, because I want to spend time with my family and enjoy my time. You give a lot to football when you are in it. But who knows, once you stop playing maybe you think differently and you want to get back into it.
"Maybe I will get bored without football! Maybe for some people it’s an easy one to answer, but for me I’m not sure. I have started doing my UEFA B Licence, but I haven’t finished it yet. Who knows, maybe one day I will use it.”
For now though, our new keeper has plenty to keep himself focused on the pitch, as he adjusts to life at his new club with a wealth of experience behind him.
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