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“He is a very creative player. He is a very young player and has a lot of potential to achieve,” Portuguese football journalist and pundit Mariana Fernandes told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n
“A right-winger with a left foot – so he has a left foot but also likes to go through opponents with his right foot, which becomes very confusing for defenders to try and stop him.<\/p>\n
“He is really quick, really smart and mature in the way he transforms the game.”<\/p>\n
Quenda was born in the African nation of Guinea-Bissau but moved to Portugal as a child and joined a small club on the outskirts of Lisbon. He caught the eye of Benfica scouts and spent two years in their academy before moving closer to home and joining Sporting.<\/p>\n
In 2023 he signed his first professional contract and, while with the reserve team, caught the eye of ex-Sporting manager Ruben Amorim, who gave him his senior debut in the Portuguese Super Cup at the beginning of this campaign.<\/p>\n
At just 17 years and 95 days, the Portugal Under-21 international became the club’s youngest ever goalscorer with his strike in a 4-3 defeat by Porto.<\/p>\n
Quenda recorded 20 goal contributions in 33 appearances for Sporting’s under-23s last season and now has 10 goals involvements in 44 games this campaign.<\/p>\n
While he was deployed on the wing to help both attack and defence under now Manchester United boss Amorim, he has moved into a more offensive role in a front three under Sporting’s new head coach Rui Borges.<\/p>\n
“He is a very complete player, a very put together player,” Fernandes added. “He has the mentality that he always has to go back and help the team to defend. He doesn’t stay up front.<\/p>\n
“I think the right word to describe Quenda is he is a very brave player.<\/p>\n
“His main strength is one on one challenges. He is really strong on the duels with the ball at his feet. It is very rare for a defender here in Portugal to stop Quenda in a duel or one on one challenge.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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