De La Cruz stays! Midfielder ends Peñarol talks, remains at Flamengo | OneFootball

De La Cruz was on Peñarol’s (URU) radar, but the offer did not please Flamengo

Flamengo will not be able to negotiate De La Cruz this time. A target of Peñarol (URU) in the transfer market, the player will remain in Rio de Janeiro. On Friday night (07), the player’s representatives announced the end of negotiations with the Uruguayan team.

WHAT DID DE LA CRUZ’S REPRESENTATIVES SAY?

“Faro Sports, representing Nicolás de la Cruz, would like to express our most sincere gratitude to Club Atlético Peñarol for the interest, respect, and professionalism shown in the attempt to complete the signing of our player.

At the same time, we would especially like to highlight executives Marcelo Solomita and Fernando Jacobo for their tireless effort, their closeness, and the human quality they demonstrated at every stage of this joint process.

However, despite the willingness and tireless negotiations carried out by all parties, the deal cannot be completed at this time.

At Faro, we acted with the aim of protecting Nicolás’s best interests while also making a great effort so that this signing could be completed.

We must emphasize that the parties involved worked intensely and joined efforts with the firm intention of reaching an understanding.

We are very grateful for the demonstrations of affection and interest we received and wish Club Atlético Peñarol much success in its upcoming sporting and institutional challenges.

Finally, we extend our usual cordial greetings to the public.”

WHAT HAPPENED?

Peñarol tried to sign De La Cruz on loan, with Flamengo paying all or part of his salary. However, the Rubro-Negro refused. Later, the Brazilian club even considered terminating the player’s contract. But that situation also did not move forward.

De La Cruz is an openly declared Peñarol supporter and dreams of playing for the club he loves. However, the midfielder is under contract with Flamengo until December 2028, and arranging a termination was not a simple process. As a result, the Uruguayan remains available to coach Leonardo Jardim.

WAS PEÑAROL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT SIGNING DE LA CRUZ?

Last week, De La Cruz’s representatives were very optimistic about the player’s signing. Even club president Ignacio Ruglio spoke openly about the negotiations, a rare situation in today’s transfer market.

— We started talking with the player and, well, he wants to spend some time here in his country. He has already declared himself a supporter of the club. He wasn’t getting all the minutes he wanted. So, we started sounding out the player’s willingness and had some talks with the president (Bap) and another with the sporting director (José Boto). These things are very difficult to make happen, but if you don’t try, they certainly won’t happen. We’ve been at this for almost 25 days now —, said the executive.

— In fact, I myself told Nico (De la Cruz) yesterday that I really didn’t know how it had leaked. The journalist who published it is my friend, but I really had nothing to do with it. And he told me: ‘Well, we’ve already stayed quiet for quite a while, it’s normal that it could happen.’ There’s not much more to it than that. We’re seeing whether there’s any possibility and trying, but knowing they are very difficult players to bring in —, he added.

WHAT IS THE AUTHOR’S OPINION?

— It is always very difficult to talk about De La Cruz. Every time he plays, he does well. However, he is almost never fit because of repeated physical problems. I believe a departure would be good for both sides, but under the terms Peñarol wanted, it just doesn’t work. For free? Flamengo paid 16 million dollars, more than R$77 million at the exchange rate at the time —, opined Pedro Paulo Catonho, journalist for Coluna do Fla.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.