The young and highly-rated Portuguese midfielder is determined to make it at Anfield having shone while on loan at the south coast club

Sat inside an interview room at Brighton’s sprawling training base in Lancing, João Teixeira is answering the questions put to him politely and calmly. Suddenly he lights up. His eyes widen and a smile spreads across his face. He leans forward and for the first time on a crisp morning in West Sussex, the young man located at the other side of the table truly looks alive.

“We were in the hotel in Kensington and I didn’t expect to be on the bench,” Teixeira says. “I was on the list a lot of times before but I was never on the bench. But this time I was on the bench, it was my first time and I was very excited.”

Teixeira is recollecting the one and only first-team appearance he has made for Liverpool, his parent club. It came as an 82nd-minute substitute away at Fulham last February. The score was 2-2 at the time with Brendan Rodgers’ team coming from behind twice at a point in the season when belief was growing that they could mount a genuine title challenge. What happened next cemented their credentials and Teixeira, positioned on the left flank after replacing a certain Raheem Sterling, played a key role.

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“I passed the ball to [Daniel] Sturridge that led to the penalty,” he recalls as his eyes widen further and that smile becomes more pronounced.

Sturridge was hacked down in the area by Sascha Riether and from the resulting spot-kick deep into second-half stoppage time, Steven Gerrard secured all three points for Liverpool. It was a big moment, reflected by the way Gerrard ripped off his shirt and swung it in celebration in front of the delirious away support. Soon he was being mobbed by his team-mates, including Teixeira. Life as a Premier League football could not have begun much better.

“I enjoyed it as much as I could, it was great,” remembers the 22-year-old. “It was my debut in the Premier League, which is something you dream of, and it went well and we won the game, so I was very happy. Very satisfied.”

That Teixeira cameo had indeed gone well and as Liverpool’s pursuit of a first championship in 24 years gathered momentum (before ultimately hitting a brick wall) he thought Rodgers would give him another chance to impress. But while he continued to find a place on Liverpool’s bench, the Portuguese never again made it on to the pitch and instead returned to play for the club’s Under-21 side, for whom he has regularly featured since arriving from Sporting Lisbon in 2012.

A little over a year on from that appearance against Fulham, however, Teixeira feels confident he can again be a presence in Liverpool’s first team given the way he has performed while on a season-long loan at Brighton.

In total, Teixeira has scored six goals in 33 appearances for Brighton, making him their second-highest goalscorer behind Lewis Dunk. There have also been four assists, the joint-highest of any player. Those may not be startling statistics, but given this is Teixeira’s first season at Brighton and it has come at a time when the club have consistently struggled in the Championship – they are currently 19th and on their second manager after Chris Hughton replaced Sami Hyypia in December – he can be deemed to have done well.

What the numbers also do not show is Teixeira’s general level of performance, which has been high. He is a well balanced and highly technical, two-footed midfielder. A creative menace who has been likened to the former Portugal and Barcelona midfielder Deco and looks a cut above Championship level.

“I have a lot of trust in myself, in my capacity, so I always thought I could do well in the Championship,” says Teixeira, who also had brief loan spell at Brentford last season. “The formation has become different [since Hughton replaced Hyypia] but what both managers asked me to do is very similar – to play behind the striker, look for space, assist, pass, get in the box and score goals. Overall to be creative, which is what I like to do.”

Residing on the south coast has been easy for Teixeira to adjust to given he comes from Braga, Portugal’s third largest city but a place which, he says, “is similar to Brighton; not that big, with nice restaurants and a beach”. But while the surroundings have been idyllic, life on the pitch has been anything but as a team used to chasing promotion in recent seasons has had to focus instead on avoiding relegation.

Hyypia paid the price with his job, which came as a blow for Teixeira given it was the former Liverpool defender who brought him to Brighton. At that stage, the Portuguese admits he thought his time at the Amex Stadium could be coming to a premature end. But Hughton quickly made it clear that he wanted Teixeira to remain and under the former Norwich manager he has, if anything, improved playing in a freer attacking role. It is little wonder, then, that despite the difficulties Teixeira views his time at Brighton as a positive one.

“I’ve always played in winning teams, when I was at Sporting and at Liverpool as well. This has been a different mentality; we have to fight to survive. It’s a different experience but a good on as well. It’s good to see both sides,” he says.

“[Hyypia’s departure] was a really fast thing. One day he was here, the next day I never saw him again. It was sad to see him leave but these things happen in football. As a player you just have to deal with it and carry on working hard. That is what I kept doing and thankfully when the new manager came in he liked me. I have kept playing. It’s been a good experience.”

Teixeira has watched Liverpool’s fortunes from afar this season – and will do so again when they face Blackburn in an FA Cup sixth-round replay on Wednesday evening – as well as maintained regular dialogue with figures at the club, most prominently the Academy director Alex Inglethorpe. Teixeira was also able to catch up with Rodgers when he returned to Anfield last month to take part in a charity match. “He is happy with my progress,” Teixeira says with another smile.

Rodgers’ record with young players should rightly provide Teixeira with encouragement, as should the Northern Irishman’s description of him in January as “the outstanding performer in our reserves”, a view he was not alone in holding.

Teixeira has been a shining light for Liverpool at youth level ever since he joined from Sporting for around £800,000. In essence he auditioned for the transfer, having scored and dazzled throughout when Sporting won 3-0 at Anfield in August 2011 during the now defunct NextGen Series.

“It was maybe a month after [that Liverpool made contact],” Teixeira recollects. “It was a big chance for me in England. The people here live for football intensely, and for me it’s where football is the best. I’ve always wanted to come to England and, of course, I was excited about playing for such a great club as Liverpool. It was a big chance. I couldn’t say no.

“You don’t need to spend money if you have the right young players at your house – I know this is Liverpool’s philosophy and it is also why I wanted to join them.”

Having played at youth level with Sterling, Teixeira has not been surprised by the forward’s progress in recent seasons. He continues to speak regularly with the 20-year-old, describing him as a “really nice guy”, but insists they have not discussed the England international’s ongoing contract standoff with Liverpool. “I don’t know about the future,” is Teixeira’s response when asked if he is hopeful that Sterling will remain at Anfield.

One man he definitely will not be lining up alongside at Liverpool next season is Gerrard given the captain’s decision to end his glittering association with his boyhood club in the summer. Teixeira first took notice of the midfielder when, aged 12, he sat in front of the television with his father and watched the 34-year-old lift the European Cup for Liverpool in Istanbul. Gerrard has been a source of advice and support for Teixeira ever since he arrived on Merseyside three years ago, having also been the man who encouraged Hyypia to take him to Brighton. Naturally there is sadness on the Portuguese’s part that their time together in Liverpool’s senior side will forever be restricted to that heady evening at Craven Cottage 14 months ago.

“Stevie helps not just me but all the young players at Liverpool,” Teixeira says. “It is obvious that he really cares about them all, probably because he came from the youth team, too, so he knows how we are all feeling. He’s a legend in Liverpool and everyone at the club likes him a lot. It is a shame he will not be there next season as I would have liked to have played with him more, and learnt from him. But you can understand if after all this time at Liverpool, Stevie wanted a new experience.”

As one Anfield career ends another could take off. That is what Teixeira is hoping anyway. After representing Portugal at this summer’s European Under-21 Championships in the Czech Republic, he feels it will be time to move on and, specifically, move back. “I need to finish the season here and then I’ll go to Liverpool on 2 May,” he says. “I will be there for two more weeks and train so I can keep fit for the Euros. I will also have time to speak to the manager about my future.

“I came to Brighton to become more mature and get more experience, and hopefully next year I will be playing for Liverpool. That is my dream.”