Player Profile: Hugo Viana  

Full name: Hugo Miguel Ferreira Viana

Position: Midfielder

Date of Birth: 15 Januaryr 1983

Birthplace: Barcelos, Portugal

Sporting can justifiably be seen as carrying the torch for the future of Portuguese football right now - to Joao Moutinho and Nani we can now add Yannick Djalo. These stars of world football’s future should bear in mind, however, the story of a player from the same conveyor belt who’s taken a wrong turn or two.

Hugo Viana had it all in front of him, back in the days when France were still invincible and Jose Mourinho was yet to press his indelible thumbprint on the European football landscape. At 19, Viana was the reigning European Young Footballer of the Year and had played his part in Sporting’s 2001/02 title triumph, only the second time they had won the league since the early 80s. He had already made his debut for the national team (at 18) and was drafted into the 2002 World Cup squad at the last minute.

Premiership challenge

After the tournament he was off to England, whose under-21 team Viana had helped to dump out of that summer’s European Championship with a virtuoso display, to join ex-Sporting coach Bobby Robson’s Newcastle United. The €12 million transfer fee made Viana the British game’s most expensive teenager ever. Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd hailed him as ‘the best young player in the world’, while others compared his left-footed verve to a great Brit of the past, Scotland legend ‘Slim’ Jim Baxter.

Sadly, it didn’t happen for him at St James’ Park. Viana failed to adapt, despite showing flashes of his undoubted ability, and two years (and just 16 starts) later, he was packed off back to Sporting on loan. He looked at home again at the Alvalade straight away, playing more than 40 games and taking his club to the brink of glory in the Superliga and the UEFA Cup. A disastrous end to the season saw Sporting end up empty-handed, yet Viana had regained his direction, and when a permanent switch back to Lisbon didn’t come off, he understandably baulked at the prospect of going back to warming the bench in northern England.

Valencia move

Fate intervened, as a serious knee injury to Valencia’s new signing Edu prompted their coach Quique Sanchez Flores to take Viana to Spain on a year’s loan. Yet once again the Portuguese struggled abroad, finding it hard to force his way into the first 11 in the midst of a crowded and multi-talented squad at the Mestalla – he started just four times in 2005/06.

The player himself said that he would seek a loan move in January if first team chances were not forthcoming, with Celta Vigo mooted as a possible destination. Still, his luck may be turning, after he came on for the injured Ruben Baraja to strike the opening goal in a derby win over Levante.

If not, maybe a return home is the best option. Though he seems loathed to go back a second time, the recent revival in Helder Postiga’s fortunes suggests the Superliga may be the best place for Viana to discover the consistency he needs to fulfil his potential. For the current crop of coveted Sporting youngsters, maybe the lesson is don’t leave Portugal too soon.

by Andy Brassell (10/02/2007)