Brazilian winger Ronald admits that his move to Swansea in the January window was the culmination of a childhood dream that saw him wanting to play in Europe.

Ronald has made an immediate impact at Championship level for the Swans and added a much needed injection of pace into a team that looked static prior to the arrival of both he and Przemysław Płacheta in the January window.

Two goals at Sunderland led to three points for the Swans but Ronald’s efforts have far exceeded that and his presence in the South Wales derby geeing up the fans in the opening minutes says that his language challenges can be bypassed by the universal language of football.

Speaking to the BBC he talked about his time in Swansea so far and some of his childhood in which he says that he created his toughness which has led to him being able to settle so well both in South Wales but also at the level in which he plays football.

He admits that he remains ambitious and would like to play at a higher level which can only be a good thing for us as the hunger is what will drive him onto strong performances in a Swans shirt.

“I always wanted to be here because of my mum and my grandmother,” he said.

“They always knew that it was my dream to come here.

“I started playing football aged 11 or 12, in the project in the city I am from.

“We would go to other cities to play other teams. Before that I was just playing for fun in the street with my friends.

“Then when I was 17 or 18, I got a call about going to play professionally for Corumbaense.

There are not a huge number of Brazilian players playing in Europe,” Ronald said.

“I always wanted to be one of them. Thanks to god, I am here now.

“Now I want to work, I want to fight.”

You can read the full interview with Ronald via the BBC website here.

By Phil Sumbler

Been watching the Swans since the very late 1970s and running the Planet Swans website (in all its current and previous guises since the summer of 2001 As it stood JackArmy.net was right at the forefront of some of the activity against Tony Petty back in 2001, breaking many of the stories of the day as fans stood against the actions where the local media failed. Was involved with the Swans Supporters Trust from 2005, for the large part as Chairman before standing down in the summer of 2020.

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Nocountryforoldjack

Roger Freestone

6,584 messages 341 likes

He misses seeing the sun.... Yeah no shit, me too.

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swansnews

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PSumbler

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7,733 messages 637 likes

He's going to love those four days in June when we have our summer

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LeonWasTheDogs

Alan Waddle

792 messages 384 likes

A long one this year then? 🤣

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PSumbler

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Effects of global warming!

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Glyn1

Tommy Hutchison

1,352 messages 69 likes

"There are not a huge number of Brazilian players playing in Europe,” Ronald said."

Bollox, there are 100s of them, including in effing Iceland! He should be grateful that he's moved to somewhere sub-tropical.

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Glyn1

Tommy Hutchison

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Nocountryforoldjack

Roger Freestone

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Yeah blink and you'll miss it.

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K23

Ivor Allchurch

4,411 messages 367 likes

Yup, looks like several hundred just in Portugal alone but that'll be down to the common language and not surprised by the number in other top European leagues in England, Germany, France, Spain & Italy but amazed at how many Brazilians play in places like Albania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Thailand & Cyprus! Ronald definitely a bit wide of the mark with his "not a huge number" comment!

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