Jose Mourinho made good on a promise to buy Felix Afena-Gyan an €800 pair of trainers after his match-winning exploits for Roma at the weekend.
The Ghanaian 18-year-old scored a double off the bench to lead Roma to a 2-0 Serie A victory over Genoa on Sunday, ending their three-game winless streak in all competitions.
He became the first player born since January 1, 2003 to score in the Italian top flight and the third-youngest foreigner to score at least twice in a single Serie A game.
Afena-Gyan celebrated his first goal, which came when he slotted home Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s throughball in the 82nd minute, by running over to Mourinho.
“I promised him a very expensive pair of shoes, for 800 euros, and he came to me to make sure I didn’t forget,” Mourinho told broadcaster DAZN.
“I really like his coldness, his physicality, but above all his humility.”
Afena-Gyan on Monday shared a video on Instagram of himself unboxing the new shoes in the presence of Mourinho. He included the caption: “Forever grateful Sir. I’ll make you proud.”
Speaking to Roma’s official website after the game, Afena-Gyan said of Mourinho: “He is teaching me a lot and I am learning a lot from him. He is someone who has achieved a lot during his career and he is a great person. I am glad to be working with him.
“He encourages me day in and day out to do everything that will help me improve in future. So I am happy to be working with Jose Mourinho. I thank him very, very much. I thank him a lot. He’s a great person.”