Ex-Palmeiras boss recalls Jorge Jesus chat: ‘Take Felipe Menezes’ | OneFootball

Hired by Palmeiras at the end of 2012, coach Gilson Kleina was responsible for assembling the squad for the 2013 Série B campaign, with the goal of returning to the top tier of Brazilian football the following year.

Former Palmeiras coach recalls conversations

In an interview with the “Papo de Primeira” podcast, the manager recalled how negotiations went with players for Verdão, as well as conversations with Jorge Jesus, former Flamengo coach who was at Benfica at the time, in order to sign striker Alan Kardec.

“The first negotiations were to sign Fernando Prass from Vasco. Fagner was also supposed to come, but then he went to Corinthians, and Barcos didn’t want to stay. I spoke with Luxemburgo, and we traded Barcos for five Grêmio players,” he said.

“I remember calling back then—you’d sit down at your computer at home at night and go through the squad. So I checked Benfica’s squad, and the coach was Jorge Jesus. I called Jorge Jesus the next day, introduced myself as Palmeiras coach Gilson Kleina, and said there was a striker there I was interested in, Alan Kardec, who wasn’t being used. Then he said, ‘Kleina, I’ll let Alan Kardec go, but only if you take Felipe Menezes as well,’” he stated.

“We also brought in players from Cruzeiro, and then we put together a really good group. So much so that we qualified in the Libertadores, qualified in the Paulista, and qualified in the Copa do Brasil,” he concluded.

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