His time at Fluminese told Arsene Wenger he was going to be a star, his time with Levante says otherwise. Wellington Silva’s off field antics have overshadowed the Brazilian’s time in Spain, but then again he’s only made a handful of substitute appearances in his time at Levante. When he left Fluminese his Brazilian manager Muricy Ramalho said of him:
“I am very unsatisfied with him. He misses training, arrives late, argues with his father, this has nothing to do with Fluminese. He needs to become a player because right now he still isn’t one.”
At the time Arsenal presumed that the young strikers problems stemmed out of his poor relationship with his manager, just as van Persie’s problems did when he was at Feyenoord. However now it appears that there is a deeper problem that needs to be addressed. Last season reports of an unhealthy penchant for the local pizzeria and an obsession with Twitter were cited as the reason for Wellington’s lack of playing time and little seems to have changed. At first it was put down to problems for the Brazilian in settling in to life on a new continent but Levante manager Luis Garcia insisted that everything has been done to help the Brazilian feel at home. Garcia said:
“I want him to be more professional in his behaviour. Arsenal want us to work and help him and not only in terms of football. We’ve drawn up a programme for him and I want more time spent with his team-mates to help him settle and with the different language. He does have a problem settling in, being lonely. It’s important that he has someone to help and guide him.”
That was last year and despite Levante having a new manager the situation hasn’t improved. One difference this year is the improved form of Levante and it is understandable that because Wellington hasn’t been part of that team that has done so well it would be hard for Juan Ignacio Martinez to pick him. However reports suggest that even if the team wasn’t doing so well there still wouldn’t be a place for the starlet in the team. Wellington compounded the situation recently with an outburst on Twitter claiming he was ‘fed up’ of having to wait for his chance in the first team. His unquestionable talent gives the troubled youngster cause to believe that he should warrant a place in the starting eleven but he is yet to learn how to conduct himself in his private life.