Currently without a club, Renato Paiva recalled, in an interview with the newspaper TO THEhis time at Toluca. The coach praised the work carried out in Mexico and the legacy left to his successor, Antonio Mohamed, who led the team to win two consecutive championships. The Portuguese coach highlighted the club's evolution under his command, which he found outside the access points to the play-off. «When we arrived, we found the club in 13th place, outside the play-offsand in two tournaments we managed to place him in third and second place», he stated. The former Benfica player also highlighted the effort to balance the squad: «At the same time, we found a way to manage a more balanced, better squad, signing very well, bringing quality to the club and making the squad better than the one we found», he explained. The coach considers that his work was fundamental to the later successes. «Afterwards, Mohamed made some specific hires for what was really needed. Therefore, I believe it was a very good base to work from. We obviously lacked the title, and Mohamed achieved that with all his merit, with all the responsibility and quality he has", he added. Renato Paiva also shared the curious story behind Paulinho's signing for Mexican football, revealing that the initiative came from the player's manager. «It’s a very beautiful, very curious story. I'm at home one day and Paulinho's manager calls me and asks if I need a number nine. And we were nine more or less early to hire», he began by saying. The surprise was great when the name was revealed: «I said to him: 'Well, Pedro, we already have a player here who is almost closed, but tell me who he is'. Out of curiosity. And he told me: 'It's Paulinho'. And I: 'Paulinho? Paulinho?'. And he: 'Yes, Paulinho from Sporting'». The initial reaction of Toluca's management was not, however, positive, due to the striker's age and concerns about his adaptation. «The first reaction was that no, that he was already a little old, that they were afraid of the adaptation of a European to Mexican football, that he had never left Europe», explained Paiva. It was then that, together with the club's head of prospecting, Víctor Palacios, he outlined a strategy to persuade directors Santiago San Román and Zinha. Paiva's conviction was decisive: the coach directly contacted the player, who was on vacation in Cancún, and assumed responsibility for the signing, despite the striker's financial demands. «In the last meeting, Santiago told me: 'Well, it's our decision, it's your decision. Are you 100% sure he is the man we need?'. And I told him: 'I'm not 100, I'm 200% sure of the player who's coming'». In addition to the titles he won, he was also the top scorer in recent editions of the championship.