This Wednesday, FC Porto announced the loan of striker Gabriel Veron to Cruzeiro, valid until December 2024, giving the Brazilian club an option clause to buy sports rights worth 10 million euros. A decision that was already expected, taking into account that the footballer was not used this season, probably due to an episode during the preseason, in which he was injured while playing football with friends in Brazil. This is a year after he was signed by Palmeiras for 10.34 million euros.
However, this is only one of the seven athletes signed since the start of the 2022/2023 season who could not comply with the orders of coach Sérgio Conceição, representing a total investment of 67.52 million euros.
The biggest example is central defender David Carmo, who was acquired from Sp. for 20.28 million euros. Braga and who, after being the target of several public criticisms from the coach, has now been demoted to team B after a disciplinary incident related to his little commitment to the sport. the main team. At 24, the big hope of replacing veteran Pepe in defense will now be packed up to leave FC Porto, after a year and a half in which he played just 27 games (12 this season).
Also bagged is Spaniard Nico González, for whom Barcelona paid 8.4 million euros. He became the star in midfield, but he did not play more than 537 minutes in 14 games, leading yesterday to the player’s father publicly admitting that he had to find a new career path in light of the ‘complicated situation’ why this will pass. . “It’s all very clear. Anyone who has been a footballer knows how someone feels when he doesn’t play,” he told Rádio Renascença, without commenting on Girona’s alleged interest.
There are also two other Spanish players signed this season from whom much was expected, such as Iván Jaime, for whom Famalicão received 10 million euros, but played only 11 games (3 starts) and scored one goal; and striker Fran Navarro, who made just 10 appearances and scored one goal after earning €7m for Gil Vicente. Then there is the case of goalkeeper Samuel Portugal, who is yet to make his debut in two seasons despite Portimonense earning €2.5 million.
Finally, there is the strange case of Marko Grujic, who joined Dragão on loan from Liverpool in 2020, where he spent two seasons in that condition, after being essential for Sérgio Conceição. In July 2022, FC Porto acquired the Serbian international for 9 million euros, and remained a key player last season. This year, however, his influence faded and he played only eleven games (only five as a starter).
In practice, of this season’s reinforcements, only Alan Varela (18 games), who was acquired from Boca Juniors for €8 million, was important, in addition to two signings from last season: Stephen Eustáquio (24 games and 4 goals) who came from Paços de Ferreira in exchange for €4.21 million and André Franco (18 games and 1 goal) signed from Estoril for €4.07 million.
Source: DN
