Pedro Sousa: Why Varandas won't leave Sporting for Saudi Arabia—courage | OneFootball

Pedro Sousa revealed why Frederico Varandas refused to leave Sporting for Saudi Arabia. The President of Alvalade Club received an offer to lead one of the four clubs managed by the public investment fund of the Middle Eastern country, namely Al Nassr, Al Ahli Jeddah, Al Hilal, and Al Ittihad. As examples, the journalist cited past episodes of the lions' top leader.

“Frederico Varandas, when he was the clinical director of Sporting, in 2015, declined to earn ten times more for Monaco. It was Leonardo Jardim who wanted to take him there and he declined this possibility. Of course we are not talking about these millions, but he would earn ten times more in Monaco. In 2018 he became President, this is a fact”, he began by saying to Canal NOW.

Next, Pedro Sousa cites his second example: “This ran parallel with the Gyokeres issue and the information I have is that he decided in less than 24 hours or something similar. It was quick, he must have spoken with his family”.

“We often forget that he is a doctor. He has a degree in medicine from Nova University, he is a career military man and, therefore, has been through some things, including in Afghanistan, often opponents mock this. I would like to see some of them on a NATO mission, with bullets flying overhead”, he added.

To conclude, Pedro Sousa cites the Sportinguismo of Frederico Varandas as one of the factors: “This afternoon I asked him, he is Member 5,427, which means he has been a member from the beginning. He was a member of Juve Leo in his past, at 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 years of age and so on. Therefore, his intention is to run in March 2026 and renew for a third and probably last term as President of Sporting Clube de Portugal”.

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