Paulo Machado joins St Etienne

U21 international to try his luck in France

FC Porto Portugal under-21 international midfielder Paulo Machado has joined French Ligue 1 side Saint Etienne on a one-year loan deal.

The 22-year-old has spent each of the last four seasons on-loan from the Portuguese champions, representing Academica, Estrela da Amadora and Leiria before joining up with Leixoes during the last campaign.

“I want to continue to develop, to progress and to bring my small piece to this beautiful structure which represents Saint Etienne,” Machado said upon his arrival at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

The move is reminiscent of Helder Postiga’s switch from Porto to Les Verts two years ago, and Machado admits that he spoke with the Portugal forward about his new home.

“I spoke with Postiga and he said a lot of good about the club and its supporters. He spoke about the atmosphere inside the stadium with 35,000 fans, which was filled during his stay at St Etienne. That reinforced my decision to join this club.”

Although Machado has seen little of his new team in action, the 22-year-old is hopeful that he will have no problems adapting to French football, while insisting that the strong competition for places in Laurent Roussey’s squad will not be an intimidating factor.

“I’ve only been able to see some video highlights from last season. I will try to watch some complete matches to help me implement my style of play on the team.

“I am friends with (former Belenenses defender) Nivaldo, who I knew from the Portuguese league. I also remember playing against Blaise Matuidi at youth international level, as well as Mouhamadou Dabo.

“How will I deal with the competition for places? It’s a part of football at the highest level. This is not an obstacle, on the contrary. When competition is healthy, it pushes you to work more.”