Exactly. Anyone that thinks Varandas or anyone not named Amorim is making 100% of the squad selections is fooling themselves.
Amorim wants, amorim gets. I think our system will favour Esgaio's qualities, he has more defensive cover, just like Porro. With CL and cup football we need the depth. Im just worried we won't be able to afford Porro, also Vinagre if he comes will also be 8.5M or more to buy him. And English clubs won't do partial transfers like we do with Famalicao or Braga
I'm excited and happy to have Esgaio back. He's definitely improved since his time away from Sporting. One of the best RBs in the Liga in my opinion.
Official: Ricardo Esgaio is the first signing for the 2021/22 season. The confirmed fee is 5.5M euros, and a release clause of 45M euros. Look who's back. 😉 #MadeInSporting👉 https://t.co/uq81IqwGDf pic.twitter.com/lV1di5FVRV— Sporting CP (@SportingCP) July 3, 2021
I think it's just speculation to get scp up their offer. Sporting already knows what the max they want to pay is so they're not budging. Either way, Mario ain't nothing special. No point in overpaying.
That’s too bad. Always shitty to see a youth player, especially one that played a pretty important role in winning the league, on benfica. that being said, apparently the transfer cost is up to 27mil? And he’ll be making more than 2x our highest player. I like JM, but he’s not worth that.
Lol Benfica just took out a massive loan last week. And, once again, they're throwing money around like it's nothing. Overpaying for Joao Mario. Dude is pedestrian at best. Good riddance.
I mean, he's trying to get paid and he's probably offended that SCP only value him at $5 million. His wages are going to be insane in this league. The guy literally passes the ball sideways. That's his only job. He's good at possessing the ball for sure, but that's about it. A one dimensional player ain't worth that much.
With footballers the only thing I'll concede is if you want to live in a certain city/location your options do become limited. Even ignoring any wage demands we weren't willing to pay what Inter wanted as a transfer fee so he's not got a lot of choice if he wants to stay in Portugal and live his life/raise a family there.
Now that Mario is officially a Benfica player I guess Fernando Santos will now start calling him up to the national team
Here's what I think: 1. Have to remember that he's an Inter player, not belonging to us so he's free to go wherever. 2. There are clauses but Inter and Benfica seem confident they can make the deal. Apparently we believe we can make 30 million on some anti rival clause, but I think thats farfetched. 3. This one hurts: we gave him a home after he flopped everywhere, he came back and even became a title winner. But if he and his family want to stay in Lisbon and were not capable of paying him, Where's he gonna go? 4. Statistically I think he only had 2 assists and 2 goals, which can be replaced IMO. Even Pote could potentially play deeper in midfield like he did in Famalicao. 5. Probably the most relevant - If Amorim REALLY wanted JM, he would demand him and the board would make the effort. Amorim wanted Paulinho and Esgaio and we got them. In other news: apparently we're on the verge of signing Goncalo Esteves, after his contract expired at Porto. The 17 yr old RB is apparently one of the most talent players of his generation and Amorim wants him to train with the first team. He's also the younger brother of Porto player Tomas Esteves. I cant remember having so many good options for the full backs. Looks like this statement from Amorim is working: Rúben Amorim em março de 2020, depois de lançar Essugo com 16 anos ↘️🎙️"Não interessa a idade, o Sporting está neste caminho, aqueles que estiverem em dúvida entre clubes sabem que aqui têm a porta aberta." pic.twitter.com/JFwlpJc6EP— Cabine Desportiva (@CabineSport) July 4, 2021
Sorry, but he's a ********ing judas. Had a 1000 other teams to choose from. Regardless if he was good this year or not, his legacy as a sporting player is completely tarnished.
Kinda curious to see if many of you will be this magnanimous next season is he helps Benfica return to the top of the league? I get the human angle but I’d likely to hear his side of it when he does speak on it.
What side? If he was worth any bit if what he's getting paid at Inter, then he'd have more of a market than playing for Benfica. Again, not worth stressing over. Dude is not that good of a player at all. One dimensional. Let him to SLB and finish 3rd again while their president continues stealing money for his own debt.
Ok, so you are saying if he was a better player you’d be more unsettled by the move to Benfica then, correct?
Yes and no. If he was a better player, Sporting would've set their value for him higher and we probably wouldn't be having this discussion, and both SCP and Mario would be happy. But it looks like Mario thinks he's better than he is. I don't blame him if SLB want to overpay for a soft and one-dimensional player.
Part of it for me is that he is from Porto, started in their youth system and grew up a Porto fan. Would be a lot more painful if it was similar to the Moutinho situation where he spent his entire career at sporting and was meant to be a die hard fan.
This makes sense. I think for me it’s because he just won a pretty important title with Sporting who brought him back in from basically being a non-factor out there in the footballing landscape. Oh well.