News from the bet365 Stadium as Wesley leaves Stoke City and tries to rebuild a career that has seen him play for Brazil and make a £22 million move to Aston Villa

Wesley, the departing Stoke City striker, has revealed he cried for 20 days and turned to drinking after suffering a serious knee injury which turned his career on its head.

The striker had only just made his Brazil debut and was finding his feet in the Premier League at Aston Villa after a big money transfer when he needed to stretchered off against Burnley on New Year’s Day 2020. He didn’t expect it to be too serious but, in the end, he would not be back in the Villa squad for another 480 days.

He had made a £22 million move to Villa from Club Brugge in the summer of 2019 and had scored five times in his first 21 matches. But he only made four more appearances for Villa in total and had spells on loan back at Club Brugge, at Internacional, in Brazil, and Levante, in Spain, before joining Stoke on a free transfer last summer. He played 23 games for Stoke, including 15 from the bench, without scoring and he has just been released to find a new club this summer.

“It was very difficult for me because I was selected for the national team in November and then on January 1 I was injured,” Wesley told human too.

“I scored against Burnley as well. The defender went in, I’ve got a scar on my leg. He went in and I got hurt. But I didn’t think it would be serious. The next day, the doctor said I needed an operation. I did the tests, everything had to be operated on.

“Mentally I was very shaken. My wife was with me. I was really shaken up. I went into drinking depression. I drank practically every day. I cried every day, practically for 20 days.”

It was a moment that changed his life as well as his career.

Wesley said: “I think it was my wife and god. At the time I wasn’t Christian, today I am Christian.

“My wife helped me a lot, she always talked to me, that I was going to turn it around because in this period it’s good to have someone with you. Players live under a lot of pressure. Not just playing football, but off the pitch as well. I’m practically the provider for my family and have to help everyone.

“Sometimes people who are going to the stadium, they see us playing happy, scoring goals, other things. But they don’t know what is behind us.”