Diogo Leite blocked troubled player from leaving Sporting for good | OneFootball

Sporting player was close to returning to Germany on the last day of the transfer window, but Diogo Leite’s stay prevented the move

Horst Heldt, sporting director of Union Berlin, addressed the club’s transfer market in a press conference and admitted that Jeremiah St. Juste was one of the German club’s targets. However, the fact that Diogo Leite stayed in the squad made the Dutchman’s departure from Alvalade impossible.

"Diogo Leite wanted to leave and could still leave the club as there are markets that remain open. In fact, he even stopped training to avoid the risk of injury. Our goal was to form a short and young squad. Since Diogo didn’t leave, we didn’t want to expand the group," explained the Union Berlin director.

Jeremiah St. Juste was repeatedly linked with a possible departure from Alvalade, and was even reported as almost certain to join Spanish side Osasuna, but for now, he will remain at the Alvalade club, with whom he has a contract for one more year, that is, until the summer of 2026.

The relationship between Rui Borges and St. Juste deteriorated after last season’s home match against Arouca (2-2), in which he failed to inform that he wasn’t feeling at his best physically and made a disastrous pass that resulted in an own goal by Rui Silva. The player has now been demoted to the B team.

In 2024/2025, St. Juste – valued at 6 million euros – played 28 matches for Sporting: 14 in Liga Portugal Betclic, six in the Champions League, five in the Portuguese Cup, and three in the League Cup. In total, the defender accumulated 1,385 minutes, without scoring or providing any assists.

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