Braz reveals talks with Leonardo Jardim after Jesus at Flamengo | OneFootball

Leonardo Jardim was close to managing Flamengo in 2020

When he left Flamengo due to the pandemic in 2020, Jorge Jesus suggested the name of Leonardo Jardim to lead the team. The management at the time liked the suggestion and pursued the current coach of Mengão. In an interview with ESPN channels, Marcos Braz, the club's vice-president of football at the time, revealed that financial issues prevented the deal.

— When Jorge Jesus left, we already had a coach outlined, what it would be, which path we would take, and ten days later, after having the budget to hire this coach, two days before the trip, I was informed that we could not have the same budget —, said Marcos Braz.

— The current (coach of Flamengo, in this case, Leonardo Jardim). Bruno Spindel informed me (about the budget issue), but surely he received orders from someone. My relationship with Bruno Spindel, just to be clear here, has always been wonderful, he took care of the administrative parts —, added the former Flamengo executive.

DID BRAZ AND JARDIM MEET?

Marcos Braz even scheduled a meeting with Leonardo Jardim but received news that made him cancel the lunch. The challenges brought by the Coronavirus naturally affected Flamengo, which needed to revise its planning.

— The problem wasn't the budget cut, the problem was that we had a certain budget, and to be fair, we were in the pandemic, with a lot of unpredictability, because making this cut now might be unfair to those who cut it. I will admit the mistake of not having been a bit tougher. We had this budget for Jorge Jesus, the budget was already set, we had already made the offer to Jorge Jesus… when he left, we continued with that budget throughout the year —, pointed out Braz.

— I contacted (Leonardo Jardim), asked to schedule a lunch with him in Braga, where he resides, and when I saw that I wouldn't have the budget, I canceled the lunch myself, it wouldn't make sense for me to go there. And I have already discussed this with Leonardo Jardim —, he concluded.

WHO CAME TO FLAMENGO IN PLACE OF JORGE JESUS?

So, with a smaller budget, Flamengo hired a cheaper coach to replace Jorge Jesus: Domènec Torrent. However, the Catalan did not succeed at the club and left after 26 games. Even so, 'Dome' was able to add the 2020 Brazilian championship title to his resume, which would later be won with Rogério Ceni.

HOW WOULD LEONARDO JARDIM HAVE BEEN AT FLAMENGO IN 2020?

Therefore, it remains in the imagination of Flamengo fans how Leonardo Jardim's tenure would have been after Jorge Jesus. The reality is the current 'era' of the coach, who has already won a Carioca and is seeking top positions in the Brasileirão. This Thursday (19), the Rubro-Negro faces Remo in the seventh round of the national tournament, with the match starting at 8 PM (Brasília time).

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