New FC Porto loan signing Majeed Waris has revealed national team colleagues Christian Atsu and Daniel Opare influenced his decision to join the Portuguese giants.
The 26-year-old Ghana international became the first winter signing by the Dragons on Friday when he completed a six-month loan which has a €6 million purchase fee in the summer.
Waris, who can play in all attacking positions, was faced with making a choice between FC Porto and French Ligue 1 side SM Caen.
While knowing he can achieve his Champions League dreams, the Lorient striker confessed joining a club with a history with talent from his homeland convinced him to move to the Portuguese capital, having discussed the move with Atsu and Opare.
“It is probably the club in which my dreams can come true, to play in a top league and in the UEFA Champions League,” Waris said in his first interview with fcporto.pt and Porto Canal.
“I talked to some friends, Christian Atsu and Opare, who had been here before. They helped me decide to come here”.
No personal glory
Waris is confident he will “match” well with his new teammates and promises to fight “for the jersey”, rather than for individual “glory”.
“I’m not here for personal glory. I am very happy and ready to give everything I have so that the club can succeed and win trophies,” the forward stated, hoping to develop a good connection with the other forwards, including also African players Aboubakar, Marega and Brahimi.
“They are fantastic players, they pretty much score all the time. I am also here to help the team score more goals and win. We can probably score a few more goals together. That is the most important thing: not who scores, but that we do it together.” Waris stated, praising his colleagues’ speed, which is also one of his features. “I think I can match well with them, because they have an offensive mentality, which I also have. It’s a matter of understanding each other and working together”.
Majeed Waris was the top scorer of the Swedish championship in 2012 at the age of 21, playing for Hacken (23 goals in 29 matches), and, in the French League, playing for Valenciennes and Lorient, he reached a promising record of 31 goals in 87 matches. In addition to Sweden, he has tried the Russian (Spartak Moscow, from 2012 to 2014) and the Turkish Leagues (Trabzonspor, from 2014 to 2015). He was also present at the 2014 World Cup, hosted by Brazil.
