The president of Benfica, Rui Costa, explained this Tuesday in an interview on the club’s official channel that the sale of the Portuguese striker Gonçalo Ramos prevented the departure, this summer, of players like David Neres, Morato, Florentino Luís, Petar Musa, António Silva and João Neves and gives Benfica the possibility of not having to make any other sale to cover financial needs.
In statements to BTV, the red leader explained that the agreement reached with Paris Saint-Germain -a loan with a purchase option worth 65 million euros that can be used by any of the clubs and another 15 for goals- was thus structured for reasons of fair play finances of Parisians.
Despite acknowledging that some fans may have been disappointed with the sale of a young starter who had an income last season, Rui Costa guaranteed that with one deal, others could be avoided.
“We prevented Neres from leaving, we prevented Morato from leaving, we prevented Florentino from leaving, we prevented Musa from leaving, we had other proposals for António [Silva] and for João Neves, which are also public knowledge and, therefore, this sale essentially allowed us to point out the positive aspects, safeguarding the financial ones,” he noted, noting that “otherwise, we would trade this sale for four or five sales to get the same value”.
In economic terms, he explained, “what was done last year, the sale of Enzo Fernández in particular, in terms of club practice, ends on June 30 and, therefore, has nothing to do with whether or not we had the economic capacity to face this season. It’s about exercise”.
Thus, he guarantees, the sale of Gonçalo Ramos will allow Benfica “to reach the end of the season without having to sell more players”.
About moment of the agreement, which lasted “much longer than expected” and ended up happening during the Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, Rui Costa explained that “Gonçalo’s mind was no longer there” in that match and that he ended up preparing “without the presence” of the Forward.
“It is legitimate, it is very normal that the player is no longer here with his head and above all that he does not want to risk anything” that puts the transfer at risk.
The Vlachodimos episode “turned out to be public”
As for the departure of Odysseas Vlachodimos, the Greek goalkeeper who ended up leaving for Nottingham Forest, Rui Costa refused to “blow what happened under the rug, because it turned out to be public.”
With the goalkeeper losing title and space in the team, and also of his own free will, it was necessary to find a solution: “He never stopped reflecting, because Odyssey last year -if you remember-, when we were approximately two days left to close the market, There is a proposal from Ajax that is very advantageous for him and we couldn’t even look at a proposal, the player’s will or what ours was, because indeed we were two days away from closing the market and we didn’t have any solution.”
This summer the answer turned out to be the Ukrainian Anatoliy Trubin, who “warned not only competition in goal, but also a possible departure from Odysseas”, which ended up happening.
Now, Rui Costa is convinced that the former Shakhtar player will be “one of the best in Europe in the near future.”
Source: TSF
