Sérgio Conceição: “I don’t intend to speak to Vítor Bruno again” | OneFootball

In the second part of his interview with TVI, broadcast on Tuesday night, Sérgio Conceição did what he had not done until now: he publicly congratulated FC Porto on winning the national title. The former coach also explained why he had only done so at this moment.

“It was a deserved title for the club structure, its coach and the players. I had the chance to congratulate the players I coached at FC Porto, people from the various FC Porto departments I worked with… I’m happy with the season FC Porto had, for winning a deserved title,” he said, before justifying the decision: “My bond with the fans is umbilical, it is so strong… After FC Porto won the title and after congratulating the people I highlighted, with all the celebrations that took place, the fans would not even have paid attention. I knew about this interview and that I would use it to congratulate everyone.”

Later, he also had words of recognition for FC Porto’s current president: “He was a winning coach, he had a short but successful spell and won a title in European competitions. His first year as president did not go well, but at this moment he is the president who won the league and deserves congratulations for that.”

Earlier, Sérgio Conceição had admitted that he would have liked to have left FC Porto in a different way. At that point, the coach recalled May 26, 2024, when, at Jamor, he called André Villas-Boas “to lift the trophy together” with Pinto da Costa and captain Pepe. “On the 27th we all had the day off, on the 28th we went to Olival to prepare the report I do every year and, on the 29th, I had arranged to go to president André Villas-Boas’s house to talk about my situation and FC Porto’s immediate future.”

“It would not be right for me to share everything that was said between us,” began Sérgio Conceição. “I told president Villas-Boas that the contract would be null and void; I had agreed to renew with FC Porto under one president. I also understood in that conversation that I was not part of the plans, that I was not seen as someone to provide continuity. Then, when the future came up in the conversation, starting with the coach, that was when I learned, I understood that my former assistant would be a solution,” he continued.

Conceição says he reacted “naturally.” And he referred to Vítor Bruno: “We had been together that night and he told me he wanted to follow his own path as a head coach, but he never told me it would be as FC Porto coach. After I found out that someone connected to FC Porto had spoken with Vítor Bruno, my former assistant, then the attitude… Some consider it inelegant, we can see it however we want, it may be treacherous… It is part of the past. Anyone who does not feel it is no child of decent people; I feel it deeply, it was a beautiful journey and things could have been done differently.”

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