Santos sign centre-back Lucas Veríssimo on three-year deal | OneFootball

Santos announced on Tuesday the signing of Lucas Veríssimo from Al-Duhail on a three-year contract, with an option for a further season. The defender, aged 30, returns to the club after five years away.

The club will pay 4 million euros for 70% of his economic rights, with payment spread over four years and the first instalment due in December. Veríssimo had been on loan at Al-Wakrah in Qatar.

A graduate of Santos’ academy, he moved to Benfica in January 2021. He also had a spell at Corinthians before heading to Qatar.

He arrives to help address a long-standing issue at centre-back, with Santos struggling throughout last season and into this year to settle on a first-choice pairing.

The club tested Zé Ivaldo, Luan Peres, Luisão, João Basso, Adonis Frías and Alexis Duarte. Frías and Duarte joined in last year’s mid-season window for around 8 million euros.

Frías currently partners Luan Peres. Duarte has been loaned to Libertad after a series of errors against Chapecoense in the Campeonato Brasileiro opener. Of the others, only Zé Ivaldo remains, and he has faced criticism after conceding three penalties in eight games. Luisão is on loan at Goiás, while João Basso terminated his contract on Tuesday.

Amid tensions in Qatar linked to conflicts in the Middle East, Veríssimo’s family wanted a permanent return to Brazil. Since the weekend, attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran have left the country on alert, and football there is suspended.

Source: Globo.com