Cruzeiro signing Zé Lucas explains ‘no’ to Flamengo | OneFootball

Flamengo and Cruzeiro competed to sign Zé Lucas from Sport

The target of a behind-the-scenes ‘duel,’ Zé Lucas signed with Cruzeiro. To do so, the 18-year-old had to turn down an offer from Flamengo. At his unveiling press conference for the Minas Gerais club, held this Tuesday (28), the defensive midfielder explained why he chose the Belo Horizonte side.

— Last year there was a lot of speculation about where I would go, but I left that to my staff. I trusted them a lot. When this offer from Cruzeiro came, with the whole project Cruzeiro presented, there was no way I could refuse it —, Zé Lucas began.

— He (coach Artur Jorge) welcomed me very well. He showed me everything he wanted from me, what he wanted me to do on the pitch, showed me videos. He called me in for a talk, helped me settle in with the squad. I still have a lot to work on and a lot to improve with Artur Jorge —, the midfielder added.

HOW DID THE BATTLE BETWEEN CRUZEIRO AND FLAMENGO FOR ZÉ LUCAS PLAY OUT?

Flamengo’s idea was to bring Zé Lucas into the under-20 team. In fact, it was the club’s youth football department that handled the negotiations with Sport Recife. Cruzeiro, on the other hand, promised that the midfielder would be part of the first-team squad and even had coach Artur Jorge speak directly with the player.

Besides that, Cruzeiro made a more attractive offer to Sport. The Minas Gerais club paid R$ 25.5 million for 60% of the player’s economic rights. Another 20% stayed with the Recife club, and the remaining 20% remains with the player’s agents.

Flamengo, meanwhile, offered nearly R$ 6 million for just 10% of Zé Lucas’ economic rights. With performance targets, the amounts would have reached the figures Cruzeiro put on the table. However, since the youngster would join the youth team, he would hardly have met the proposed targets.

HOW WAS ZÉ LUCAS DOING AT SPORT?

An undisputed starter for Sport since last year, Zé Lucas made 23 appearances this year. In addition to the transfer fee, Cruzeiro will loan two players to the Pernambuco club. The names have not yet been confirmed, but the favorites are defensive midfielder Murilo Rikhman and forward Chico da Costa.

WHAT IS THE AUTHOR’S OPINION?

— Zé Lucas was signed by the team that showed more desire to get him. The midfielder is a good player, with appearances for Brazil’s under-17 national team, and he would have been worth a bigger effort from Flamengo to complete the signing. Let’s see whether he will be used in the Libertadores round-of-16 clashes against Mengão —, said Pedro Paulo Catonho, a journalist for Coluna do Fla.

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