Since arriving at Sundowns from Portuguese side Vitória Guimarães in a reported R20-million move, Santos has brought creativity, vision and attacking quality to Kabo Yellow.
However, the attacking midfielder says the biggest adjustment since his move to Mzansi has been the physical nature of the game, where battles for possession are far more frequent than what he was accustomed to during his time in Europe.
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MAMELODI SUNDOWNS STAR LEARNING FAST
Santos once again demonstrated his growing importance to the side during Sundowns’ convincing 3-0 victory over Stade Malien at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
His creativity proved decisive as he provided two superb assists that helped place Masandawana firmly on course for a place in the semifinals of the CAF Champions League.
Overall, the 27-year-old has been involved in eight goals across eight Champions League matches.
DEFENSIVE WEAKNESS?
Despite the strong numbers, questions have surfaced regarding his defensive contribution since arriving at Sundowns, something Santos acknowledges while explaining that every player brings different qualities to a team.
“I think in football, people want players who can do everything,” Santos told the media. “They want players who can defend, assist, can score, can win duels, we’re all different, especially in Sundowns, we have players that can defend, players that can pass, players than assist and score,” Santos added.
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For Santos, the process of settling into African football has largely centred around adjusting to the number of physical battles that take place during matches, something he believes is influenced by both the style of play and the conditions in which games are often played.
“I’m an offensive player, obviously I’m not going to be the best defender in the world, but I give my best defensively every game, and I think I’m improving as well, it’s one of the aspects here in South Africa that is different in Europe.
“There’s a lot of duels and the pitch doesn’t help, and that makes the game have more duels than usual, but I’m an offensive player, I will always be, but I’m trying to improve that part as well [of my game],” the Sundowns ace concluded.