Exclusive:Ronaldo Vieira lifts lid on 'weird' Leeds United exit, fresh start with San Jose Earthquakes and his future
Nearly a decade has passed since Leeds United fans started singing about a teenager never giving the ball away.
Ronaldo Vieira only joined the club’s academy as a trialist in 2015 but by the beginning of the 2016/17 campaign, he was already an established figure in the senior set-up.
Not only did he have an eye-catching name, the midfielder had a footballing brain that defied his tender years. His combative style quickly endeared him to the Elland Road faithful and all the signs indicated he was a club hero in the making.
The appointment of Marcelo Bielsa as manager in 2018 accelerated the development of many Leeds players but within seven weeks of the Argentine’s arrival, Vieira had been sacrificed to give the club financial wiggle room.
It was against the wishes of the new Leeds boss - and not something Vieira had anticipated.
Leeds United exit
“It was quite weird,” Vieira told The Yorkshire Post. “Obviously, I wasn't expecting it, I'd just bought a house in Leeds at the time.
“I wasn't really expecting to leave and the conversations I had with Marcelo, they'd all been positive messages.
“I arrived quite late to the pre-season [after international duty with England Under-20s], but when I arrived, the message I got from him was ‘we want to keep you and we want to build around a few players’.”
On July 29, 2018, Vieira completed 45 minutes in Leeds’ final pre-season friendly, a 1-0 win over Las Palmas at Elland Road. Two days later, he completed a £7.7m move to Serie A outfit Sampdoria.
“Andrea Radrizzani (Leeds’ then-owner) just came to me and said ‘Rony, we have this offer’,” Vieira explained. “He told me first and then my agent called me after.
“He said ‘I got this offer from Sampdoria and I really don't want to accept it, but I think I have to accept it’. After we left, I was a bit confused because of the conversation I’d had with the manager.
“Then my agent called me and told me about the interest from Sampdoria. I spoke with my family and my agent and also with Radrizzani, because he had helped me since he’d come in the club. He helped me a lot.
“I just felt like, ‘okay, if it has to be done, then it has to be done, I'm not going to be the one to say I'm not going anywhere’.”
Vieira could be forgiven for feeling aggrieved regarding the timing of his Elland Road exit. He only spent a matter of weeks under Bielsa but sensed the tide was turning after a regressive 2017/18 campaign for the club.
However, as he spoke to The Yorkshire Post in the colours of Major League Soccer outfit San Jose Earthquakes, there was no sense of bitterness whatsoever.
“I did the pre-season with Marcelo and I could see already what type of manager he was,” he said. “He would have been very helpful for my career.
“When I left Leeds, I was in the best shape of my life. You could see all the right things that Marcelo was trying to bring into the club and I just knew it was going to work. That's why I was a bit gutted to go.
“But then again, I don't regret anything that happened so far. Of course, you can say you would have loved to have been part of that team that took Leeds back up to the Premier League, which is something I always wanted to do.
“It didn't happen but I was very happy for them. I was happy for Kalvin [Phillips], Luke [Ayling], Coops (Liam Cooper), all the guys I knew and that helped me in my development. I was very happy for them.”
Fresh start in California
Seven years at Sampdoria followed his Leeds exit, during which he had to deal with a series of injury setbacks. As fate would have it, Vieira was reunited with Radrizzani when the Italian bought Sampdoria in May 2023.
After amassing 113 appearances for I Blucerchiati, he turned over a new leaf with a move to California in August.
Last week, as San Jose kicked off their MLS campaign with a 3-0 win over Sporting Kansas City, Vieira wore the captain’s armband.
”I was kind of open to a different challenge after being in Italy for so long,” he said. “At first, I didn't think anything of it, because it was just during a holiday period where there's always developments and people saying they want you.
“Then, when I started pre-season with Sampdoria, it kind of progressed. Having more contact with the Earthquakes, from there it got serious.
“After speaking with them and seeing what they really want to do and the objectives they have for this club and what we want to get, I liked the challenge and just said ‘let's go for it’.
“My head was just more towards a different challenge and getting a fresh start in a different place.”
Door left open for England return
At 27, Vieira is no longer the teenage prodigy he was at Elland Road. He is among the most experienced figures in the San Jose dressing room and a senior Guinea-Bissau international having switched his allegiance.
Vieira is evidently enjoying himself in the California sun and has made his commitment to San Jose clear.
It has been nearly eight years since he last plied his trade in England, yet the midfielder has not closed the door on a return to British shores in the coming years.
“There was a time [in 2021] where I could have gone to Sheffield United,” he said. “I was just coming back from an injury that wasn't healed properly, so it didn't work out for me.
“There's always been opportunities to go back to England and play. I don't regret anything that's happened. You never know [what will happen] tomorrow.
“At the moment, I'm happy here. I have a contract here, so as long as they want me, I will be here, and then you never know what can happen in the future.
“I have a house in England and my family's in England, my brother's in England, my mum, my whole family's in England.
“If there was a chance to come back to England, of course I would think about it and I would make a decision with everything else. I would just be aware of different things, but I'd be very open to it.”
Love for Leeds United
Living across the pond has certainly not dimmed his enthusiasm for the club who gave him his breakthrough in the game.
Vieira has previously crossed paths with Whites boss Daniel Farke in Harrogate and has been keeping a close eye on his former club’s progress.
“I actually met Daniel a couple of times in Harrogate and we spoke a little bit,” he said. “I think he's a good guy for the job and from the games I've seen, I think they can do it and stay in the league.
“My mum’s a Leeds fan and my little brother is as well. I could actually say I’m a Leeds fan. I check the results and every time there's been a success, I've been happy.”