I’m the Portuguese Grealish, a few years ago I was earning 150 euros a month – now I could play with Cristiano Ronaldo

9 months ago 62

FORWARD Jota Silva could play for Portugal alongside Cristiano Ronaldo this week… just five years after he was earning 150 EUROS PER MONTH.

The Vitoria Guimaraes winger, 24, has been called up to the national team by manager Roberto Martinez for their friendlies against Sweden and Slovenia.

It comes following an impressive second season with the Primeira Liga side where he has scored 13 goals and provided seven assists in 32 appearances.

He has been dubbed the “Portuguese Jack Grealish” because of his likeness to the Manchester City forward.

And Jota’s Portugal team-mate Bernardo Silva has even joked he is going to bring him back to Man City to trick Pep Guardiola.

He said: “I’m going to send a ‘selfie’ to Jack Grealish. I will take Jota to Manchester to try to deceive Guardiola.”

Meanwhile, Jota is eyeing Thursday’s clash with Sweden as the perfect opportunity to make his debut.

That is because Martinez’s men are playing at Estadio Dom Afonso Henriques – the home of Jota’s Vitoria Guimaraes.

Speaking about the possibility of playing for Portugal in his club stadium, he said: “It’s a dream to be here.

“If I could make my debut at the Vitoria SC stadium it would be great. It’s my home.”

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It has been a meteoric rise for Jota – who was playing for Portuguese third-tier side Sousense up until 2019.

While playing for the minnows he was bringing in just 150 EUROS (£128) per month.

Now, just a few years on, he could line up next to Portugal’s greatest ever player, Ronaldo.

Ronaldo has 205 caps and a record-breaking 128 goals for his country.

Portugal topped their Euro qualifying group with a perfect record of ten wins from ten games, scoring 36 and conceding just two.

They were the only country not to drop a single point during qualification for the tournament.

Ronaldo and Co have been drawn against Turkey and Czech Republic in Group F – while the other spot will be decided by a play-off between Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan and Luxembourg.