Introducing Gilberto on Tuesday as Bahia’s newest signing, he talked about what he hopes to achieve at the Brazilian club. On the balance sheet, he also looked back and spoke words of praise about his time at Benfica and what he saw in the Eagles during his three seasons at Luz. “Benfica’s structure is something that’s hard to compare. I’ve spoken to players who arrived from big clubs in Europe and they said they’re incomparable, and the things they have there were fantastic. From what I see today, the clubs are looking for ideas there,” commented the defender, who then praised Hikal’s development. Bahia, with a project he says is “very exciting for the coming years.” The right-back also assumed Bahia’s interest was much higher due to Renato Paiva. “I was coming from a good moment there. Thank God I had several proposals. The first thing was Bahia’s interest, the way they handled it, the whole negotiation, the club, the coach mainly. It seems he sought out all my information there at Benfica. He has He worked there for a long time and some of the players who worked with him, even on vacation, sent me a message to tell me what the relationship with a lot of the athletes was like. Because I developed a lot tactically and mainly defensively. I developed a lot with the coaches I worked with there and the ideas of Renato [Paiva] very similar. That was a positive point.”

And speaking of coaches, Jorge Jesus was also called into the conversation when the question was about the importance of working with a Portuguese coach. “Honestly, I’m not interested in nationality. I’m interested in the way he works. And the way he works with me has helped me develop a lot. So much so that he’s done a great job here in Brazil. I’m very grateful to him. Paiva’s ideas are also very good,” concluded the Brazilian. , who strengthened the Eagles in 2020, specifically with the hand of Jorge Jesus.