Kiwi nets Portugal move
Wellington teenager Ollie Whyte is hoping to emulate Tyler Boyd’s feats in Portugal after signing a 12-month contract with Rio Ave.
Although he will start by playing in the country’s newly established under-23 competition, the New Zealand under-20 midfielder said his goal is to crack the Primeira Liga by the time the season is up.
‘‘It obviously depends how I’m playing but the goal is obviously to push on to the first team and be in and around the squad there or sign a first-team deal somewhere else,’’ the 18-year-old said.
Rio Ave finished fifth place in the Primeira Liga last season, clinching Europa League qualification. Their most high-profile player is former Real Madrid defender Fabio Coentrao, who has played more than 50 times for Portugal.
If Whyte can crack the first team at Rio Ave he could end up playing against Boyd, who currently plies his trade for Vitoria de Guimaraes. The former Phoenix first-team player is the only New Zealand footballer to have played in the Primeira Liga.
‘‘He’s done really well. It’s pretty cool to see that it’s actually possible, with New Zealand being such a small country and not really football based as such. He lives in Guimaraes, which is 40 minutes drive from where I am at the moment, and I went and saw him play at Benfica when I was last over.’’
Whyte grew up in Wellington and attended Scots College. He spent three years at the Phoenix Academy and played for the club’s reserves team.
But because he was unable to secure a first-team contract, Whyte said he started exploring opportunities overseas. His agent organised a series of trials in Portugal and it was there where he caught the eye of Rio Ave’s scouts.
‘‘I did enjoy it [at the Phoenix Academy] but it got to the point where I was one of the oldest boys in the squad and I thought maybe I should go somewhere else to further my development if I wasn’t going to be involved with the first team full-time,’’ he said.
‘‘They’re primarily looking for older, more experienced guys to build a team around, so it’s quite tough for some of the younger boys to be involved and I thought there was no point waiting around when I could go pursue something somewhere else.
‘‘I came over and trialled in May down in Lisbon and they saw the report from that and made contact with my agent.’’
Although he will be moving on from the club, Phoenix Academy director Paul Temple was delighted Whyte was able to secure a contract in Europe.
‘‘It’s every young player’s dream to play professionally overseas,’’ Temple said. ‘‘There are lots of factors involved in whether a player moves into the first team at the club; not every academy player will make that step up.
‘‘It’s fantastic for us to see players like Ollie sign in Portugal or, in other cases, for players to get scholarships at US colleges. The academy has seen 13 players play in the first team but Ollie is the first to move straight to Europe from the academy, so that’s brilliant for everyone involved.’’
‘‘There was no point waiting around when I could go pursue something somewhere else.’’