It’s a little phrase that means a lot. “He was a young player, I would have liked to work with him over the long term because I think he has enormous room for improvement”admitted Pierre Sage last January. The man who had just been named to the OL bench, of which he was one of the training managers, had only worked with Diego Moreira for a few weeks but he had detected the potential of the 20-year-old striker.
Often mocked by Lyon supporters, inconsistent during his seven Ligue 1 matches, a player in need of polish, he was recalled in the middle of his loan by Chelsea. Not without this creating problems, since OL had paid dearly (€2.8 million) for this sale which was ultimately interrupted to allow the Blues to send Andrey Santos to… Strasbourg. Returned to London with his head bowed, “the worst recruit of the BlueCo era” according to a follower of the English club, he had chomped at the bit with the Blues reserve, still scoring a hat-trick against Arsenal in the play-off quarter-finals (3-2, May 11).
Like at home in Alsace
The Strasbourg recruitment unit has not forgotten him. When the transfer of Gonçalo Borges (Porto) collapsed, she turned to the Belgian-Portuguese trained by Standard de Liège and Benfica Lisbon, with whom he won the 2022 Youth League. Bought for €8 million, a price who shocked both sides of the Channel given his record of service, Moreira therefore arrived in Alsace in mid-August. It was as if he was already home. Rabbit ears behind Kalle Johnsson’s head in a photo, laughter, jokes in French that he masters perfectly… Ants and fire in his legs, too, from the first training sessions. His entry into play in attack at Montpellier (1-1, August 18) was messy and it was as… left back that he settled into the eleven of the innovative Liam Rosenior.
“It’s a revelation in this position”recognized the English coach after the great victory against OM, where he took charge of Mason Greenwood, tackling, working like hell and still finding the strength to overflow to score with a cross shot, well served by a Sebastian Nanasi with whom he is very complicit. In Lille (3-3, September 21), we had already seen him defend correctly on the Zhegrova-David duo while delivering a decisive pass to Emanuel Emegha. Socks down, constantly playing forward, he finished empty Sunday night. The fire in the legs gave way to cramps.
“I’m working in a different position from the one I’ve always known, but I’m enjoying it, he smiled in the mixed zone, chambered by Dilane Bakwa and Milos Lukovic. I followed the instructions: go out to press, always. And what’s more, I scored. I dedicate this first professional goal to my parents, who always supported me in difficult times. » His father Almami, a former Guinea-Bissau international, played for Standard Liège (2001-2006), Hamburg and Partizan Belgrade. His mother Emilie is the daughter of the German Helmut Graf, who also played for Rouches (1976-1982). With Diego Moreira, the family history continues.
