Abel hits back at Crespo, recalls Palmeiras’ road to glory: “Vicious cycle” | OneFootball

Coach Abel Ferreira caught up on the statements made by São Paulo's coach, Hernán Crespo, regarding the financial power of Palmeiras and Flamengo. The Argentine manager stated, in a press conference, that both clubs are “on another level” compared to São Paulo and the other Brazilian football clubs.

Head coach of Palmeiras since 2020, Abel took Crespo’s comments with good humor. The coach responded to his friend’s remarks and even joked about the path to Verdão’s recent success: betting on the youth academy and winning titles.

“I saw my friend Crespo saying that Palmeiras has money. I’d like to say that when he arrived, we were neighbors and I had the same amount of money as he did [laughs]. In fact, when I invited him over for dinner at my house, I was the one who paid, but at that time Palmeiras didn’t have that much money. Palmeiras invested in the youth academy, sold players, the titles brought prestige, the prestige brought sponsorships. It’s all a virtuous cycle, but it all started with betting on the academy,” Abel highlighted.

In recent years, Palmeiras has profited and generated significant revenue from selling young academy players, many of whom were tested by Abel in the first team. Kevin, Luis Guilherme, Endrick, and Estêvão are some of the main names the board negotiated with the European market.

Just the sales of Endrick to Real Madrid and Estêvão to Chelsea could yield, with bonuses and achieved targets, 103.5 million euros (about R$ 638.8 million) for the club’s coffers.

“Selling four or five academy players allowed the club to become financially stable. Two years ago, our president always said, along with Barros, that we would have responsible management. This year, yes, due to the sales we made, of Ríos and Estêvão, we had to invest to keep competing. This is just to joke a little about how you make money [laughs],” said Abel.

“You make money by working with processes, believing in something. It’s easy, just look at Palmeiras, how things have been since we arrived here. It’s a virtuous cycle. Investing in the academy, titles, prestige, increasing the value of the club and the brand, sponsorships, football that people like to watch. It’s all a virtuous cycle,” the coach concluded.

Standings

With the result, Palmeiras not only remained at the top of the Brasileirão but also opened a three-point lead over Flamengo, the runner-up in the competition. Verdão reached 68 points, while the team from Rio has 65. The Alviverde also achieved their third consecutive win across all competitions.

Upcoming Palmeiras matches

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