From Bukayo Saka to Ethan Nwaneri, from Myles Lewis-Skelly to Emile Smith Rowe, Arsenal’s Hale End academy has produced quite a few impressive Premier League stars over the past decade. And João Virgínia is looking to become the next one to make the step up.
Born in Faro, Portugal, Virgínia decided to become a goalkeeper when he was eight years old and quickly impressed for his local side in the Algarve before attracting the attention of Portuguese giants Benfica. He left his home and made the move to Lisbon in 2011, where he spent four years before deciding to take his talents to England and join Arsenal.
Virgínia faced some initial difficulties in North London, like the language barrier and the cold weather, but he nevertheless enjoyed a promising development and was even able to train with the first team under the watchful eye of Arsène Wenger and bump shoulders with superstars like Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez. What’s more, he got the chance to learn from his boyhood idol Petr Čech, one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.
“Petr Čech took the time during or after training to speak to me and explain any questions or issues on certain points in the game,” stated Virgínia in an RG interview. “He was always a great guy to speak to, and he could speak so many languages as well, even Portuguese and Spanish; he definitely took the time to give me some advice when I was younger.”
“There were loads of great goalkeepers there at the time like David Ospina, Wojciech Szczęsny, even though he was always going out on loan, and Emiliano Martínez. Martínez was younger and about 23-24 when I was 18 and we always had a great relationship because I could also speak Spanish with him. To see him performing the way he’s performing now, he’s one of the best in the world and that’s great to see.”
Desperate for regular minutes, Virgínia made the move to fellow Premier League side Everton in 2018. However, after failing to make his first-team debut, he headed out on loan to Championship side Reading. Despite starting the first two matches in goal for the Royals, he failed to make another appearance and returned to Everton in January 2020. Opportunities were hard to come by for Virgínia, with Jordan Pickford solidifying his starting spot in goal. And as such, he decided to return to Lisbon and take his talents to Benfica’s crosstown rivals Sporting CP for the 2021/22 season.
Similarly to Miguel Ángel Benítez, Virgínia only won his first trophy after returning to his homeland. Whereas Benítez won the Copa Libertadores with Club Olimpia, Virgínia won the Taça da Liga with Sporting. And whilst he found himself behind veteran Antonio Adán in the pecking order, he nevertheless made eight appearances for the first team before embarking on yet another loan. This time, Virgínia was able to lock down a starting spot and was even named into the Eredivisie Team of the Month for November 2022, cementing his #1 status for Cambuur. However, after a shaky start following the World Cup break, Virgínia was dropped from the team. After playing every minute in Cambuur’s first 17 league matches, he failed to play a single minute in their next 17.
Following a mixed loan spell in the Netherlands, Virgínia returned to Everton, but he has nevertheless remained in the shadow of England’s #1 goalkeeper. At 25, Virgínia has made just 37 senior appearances, eight of those coming at Everton. Today, he finds himself at a crossroads, with his contract set to expire on June 30. Whilst Everton have an option to extend his contract by one year, they haven’t triggered it just yet.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” admitted Virgínia. “I love Everton, I love everything about it, and feel very comfortable here. Everton has the option to renew, it’s in their hands, and I’m waiting for them to do it. Obviously, I want to play and that weighs a lot, so I don’t know what’s going to happen in the summer until that contract is renewed. That’s the situation I’m in at the moment. It’s hard to say because I really love being here and having to wait for them to make a decision is really hard.”
It wasn’t long ago that Virgínia was winning trophies with Portugal’s youth teams and starting in goal over Diogo Costa – currently Porto’s captain and Portugal’s starting goalkeeper. However, if he is to make the step up to the Seleção and make his senior debut for Portugal, it’s likely he’ll have to depart Everton for greener pastures sooner rather than later.
