Rafael Soares blames culprit for Harder's drop in value at Sporting | OneFootball

Sporting may be about to sign Ioannidis from Panathinaikos. The forward has long been a passion of the Alvalade Club and could arrive to fill the gap left by Conrad Harder's departure. Rafael Soares commented on the situation on the program 'Record na Hora' and made a comparison between the two.

"Sporting has to decide if they want a player to complement Suárez or to replace Suárez. I think we will rarely see both players in the starting eleven at the same time, whether Ioannidis or someone else comes," the sports journalist began by saying.

Next, Rafael Soares expressed his preference for the Dane in Sporting's squad, considering that he was treated unfairly by the lions' coach: "I prefer Harder in the squad over Ioannidis because of his potential for appreciation and what he has already achieved in sports. He had a good season when he was an alternative to Gyokeres. He didn't have much playing time and I think he was undervalued by Rui Borges many times, when there were tighter games and Sporting needed a goal."

Admitting that Harder is not one of Rui Borges' favorite players, the sports commentator also pointed to the numbers of the lions' target: "I think he is not a player of Rui Borges' preference. What surprises me is that the price for Ioannidis is more or less the same as last season, considering what he did this season. He scored 11 goals, and six of them were penalties."

Finally, Rafael Soares highlighted the qualities of the Greek forward compared to Harder: "Ioannidis brings things that Harder doesn't have. He can associate well with his teammates and bets on explosiveness, with many moves where he progresses with the ball towards the goal. Besides that, he is superior to Harder in terms of game intelligence."

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