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Leo Da Silva Lopes will hope there’s no fuss when he goes back to Peterborough this Saturday.
The Posh gave him his break in English football and he played 87 league games there before a big-money move to Wigan last summer.
Midfielder Lopes made his Football League debut for Peterborough four years ago and is sure to get some reaction when he returns to London Road.
He doesn’t want the headlines, however.
“I would be happy to let Eavesy (Tom Eaves) score – I don’t like the limelight,” said the 20-year-old.
“I don’t really score many goals. I just get on the ball and play it to other people.
“I am just a quiet guy, I just like playing football. I don’t like the attention, I don’t like interviews!”
Lopes moved to England from his native Portugal when he was 12, following his mother and young brother over.
He had been an academy player at Sporting Lisbon but took a year out of football once he moved to live with his family in Peterborough.
One of his young friends, Claudio Ofosu – who would go on to play for Stevenage – convinced him to get his boots back on, initially playing Sunday park football.
He was scouted by his local side Peterborough and moved there as a 14-year-old, working his way through their youth set-up before Darren Ferguson – in a previous spell as manager – got him training with the first team.
In April 2015 he made his debut for the club, then under the management of Dave Robertson, starting at London Road in a 4-3 win over Crawley Town and playing in the same side as Gills captain Gabriel Zakuani. He was 16 at the time.
He played a handful of games the following season before establishing himself in the side for the 2016/17 campaign. Lopes played under Grant McCann, Graham Westley and Steve Evans before Wigan lured him away. A reported £1million changed hands when he signed for the Championship side.
“It was just an opportunity to go to a bigger club in the Championship, so I took it,” said Lopes.
“There is no point thinking about the money side. It was a good opportunity.”
However game-time at Wigan was limited and in January Lopes found himself looking for a move elsewhere. When other deals fell through, the Gills offered him the chance to get playing again.
Since leaving Peterborough his family haven’t been able to watch him play but he hopes to have his mum and 10-year-old brother watching on this Saturday.
Speaking about his former club, Lopes said: “It’s a good club, a good platform, it’s like a selling club really.
“I still follow their results to see what they’re doing but that’s about it. It is just another game for me.
“Most of the players I played with aren’t there anymore and it’s pretty much a brand new team.”
Lopes has played 10 games for the Gills since signing and getting minutes has been the most important thing for him.
He said: “I haven’t played many games for Wigan but it is a big squad.
“It has been tough, moving up north, living by myself.
“I wasn’t really in the frame there for the first couple of months, there were a few injuries and I got on the bench a bit and then made my debut. After that, I thought I needed some game-time.
“You always want to play. You have to be patient, but you want to play and I just try my best in every game.”
Gills boss Steve Lovell has already said he may look at signing Lopes next season, but the player hasn’t given up hope at Wigan.
“We will see what happens,” he said.
“I would like to go back to Wigan next season and hopefully be in and around the team, but if that doesn’t happen then I will probably have to look for something else.”
Peterborough boss Ferguson was at the Gills on Saturday.
“Leo will have a good career,” he said.
“He is a very talented lad and I’m not surprised he went to the Championship.
“It’s not worked out for him there yet, but he’s a young lad with a lot of ability so there is still time.
“The loan move appears to have gone well for him. He played on the right of a midfield diamond when I watched them and he did okay.”
