Originally a right-back who could also play on the left, Jota Silva spent much of his formative time with Portuguese minnows Sousense flying down the flanks.
Such was his attacking threat, he ended up being converted into a striker and then into a winger.
Coming from outside one of the country’s biggest academies to make it as an elite professional was an obviously difficult challenge.
Liverpool’s Diogo Jota and Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes are among the few exceptions to have done it.
The new Forest signing has had to take the long road, overcoming a series of setbacks growing up, including having his foot broken and being released by Pacos de Ferreira after a brief spell.
But all these experiences have moulded the character of a player who gets to the pitch with so much hunger that he has made biting his tongue while running with the ball his trademark back home.
“We usually played every Sunday, so our Monday training sessions were more relaxed for those who had been involved in the game and the same applied to the Saturday ones, but Jota, no, he worked every single day as if it were Wednesday,” Joao Ferreira, who coached him at SC Espinho, told BBC Sport.
“It didn’t matter to him that we had a match the following day. He would throw his head where others would place their feet.
“When we brought him from Sousense to Espinho, that was his first time competing in a professional league, so we planned to use him as a rotation player at first.
“But he made such an impact that it quickly became clear that he wouldn’t be around long.”
Read the full piece on Nottingham Forest’s latest signing here
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