João Mário: "We all started from scratch!"

INTERVIEW

João Mário's words preceded the start of work on the second day of the training camp at St. George's Park, England, which runs until Saturday, July 15.

"It's been a busy few days. It's been very intense, which is normal at this stage during preparation. There is a lot of optimism, a lot of preparation. As a group, we are gaining confidence and fitness. We already have a match tomorrow [July 12, against Southampton]", he remembered.

"We always welcome all the players. Kökcü was no different, he already knew some of the players too. He is a very nice young man, he has adapted very well to the group, he has a lot of quality. I'm sure he'll be a great addition. Di María too, Otamendi will be here with him. It's definitely a pleasure for us to have these types of players, they'll be very well received", he said.

"Every year it's the same. When you play in a big team you must have competition, you must have great players to be better and better. For me, it is also a pleasure to learn from them and to compete with them.", he stressed.

"He's a great player [Di María], I think everyone knows him. Obviously, it causes some excitement for the fans, but what we think is that we start from scratch. It's a new season, it will be very difficult again because we always face big teams in Portugal and Di María will surely come to help", he claimed.

"We are all starting from scratch. That's the good thing about championships, everything that happened in the past is already in the past for us. The 38th national title was very nice, but our goal is to win the 39th league title, because that's what the club demands of us and what we all want. So we are all starting from scratch and what we want is to win the Championship, our main goal."

"I'm very happy here, I really like this group, I want to continue at Benfica and for me, at this moment, it's not an option [to leave], but football... we know how it is. As long as they're happy with me, and I'm happy with them, it'll always be a pleasure", he said.

"It's not just Rafa, it's also like that with other players [speculation]. It's market time and there's always a lot of speculation, but what I see is a leader, a very important player in our dressing room. A great player and I hope he stays and helps us a lot. João Félix? I wish João [Félix] all the best. He's a young man with a lot of talent and quality. Whatever is good for him is what I want", he praised.

Challenged by the numbers obtained in the 2022/23 season, in which he scored 23 goals and made 13 assists in 51 games, João Mário responded with a promise. "It's difficult [to repeat], but I will try. I always try to improve from year to year. Last year was exceptional, and my goal is to try to do better", he finished.