Luís Castro recommendation, Filip Krovinovic set for Grêmio after Jorge Jesus row | OneFootball

According to Globo.com, Grêmio have turned to Croatia on Luís Castro’s recommendation, moving for Filip Krovinovic, 30. He is due in Porto Alegre on Thursday for medical checks and to sign a deal to the end of 2028.

He worked with the coach at Rio Ave in 2016/2017. The recruitment also involved Portuguese head scout Carlos Silva, who leads Grêmio’s performance and market analysis.

His Benfica exit followed a leaked audio in which he insulted Jorge Jesus after complaining about a lack of pre-season minutes. He was frozen out and, two weeks later, left the club for good.

Krovinovic joined Hajduk Split in July 2021 and has now terminated his contract. He made 192 appearances, placing him in the club’s top 50 by games.

His last outing came on 17 April against Slaven in the Croatian league, when an ankle injury forced him off after 28 minutes. He returned to the squad on 22 May against NK Vukovar 91 but remained unused.

He was criticised after a March quarter-final error, when a misplaced pass and failure to halt a break led to a Rijeka penalty and a 3-2 stoppage-time comeback that knocked Hajduk out.

Former Rio Ave team-mates describe him as a creative No 10 and say a right-knee ACL in his first Benfica season stalled his rise.

He later spent loans at West Bromwich and Nottingham Forest. At West Bromwich in 2019/2020, he helped earn promotion by finishing second, playing 43 games, 25 as a starter.

Source: Globo.com