Goalkeeper Antonio Adan will leave Sporting and say goodbye to fans in the First Football League match with Desportivo de Chavez, coach Ruben Amorim said on Friday, without guaranteeing continuity.
“I have made this decision, Alvalade will say goodbye to Antonio. [Adán], someone who knows that we are only here because we were champions in the first year and provided another level of stability. Without Antonio we would not have become champions,” said the coach of the club’s academy in Alcochete.
The 37-year-old Spaniard will not play a minute as he continues to recover from the muscle injury that sidelined him in April, Amorim confirmed.
Antonio Adan, originally from Atlético Madrid, joined Sporting at the start of the 2020/21 season, in which he won his first domestic title with Alvalade, where he made a total of 156 appearances.
The manager also used the press conference announcing the final round to confirm the Lions’ “change of cycle”, which also includes the departure of Filipe Cellikay, the B team coach, and the transfer of Joao Pereira from the pitch. -23 for secondary education.
“It’s time to thank these people, the players, but also Filipe Cellicaia and his technical team. I’m not going to ask them to stay another year. Joao Pereira, this will be dealt with, there will be changes, this is part of the cycle,” Amorim blurted out.
Subsequently, when asked whether he himself could guarantee fans that he would continue to play for Sporting next season, he admitted that it was “an idea” but refused to give a definitive answer.
“I cannot guarantee that I will be alive tomorrow. The idea, what we want, what the coach wants, is to stay at Sporting, to move forward. We have been preparing for the next season for a long time, and this is the focus,” he winced.
Then, faced with the question of leadership in the dressing room, after the departure of two players from the group of “captains”, since in addition to Adan he once again confirmed the departure of the central defender Neto, the coach considered that “all players should get ahead”, but he recalled that in the working The group today has a different stability.
“We will have people and players who can move forward. And above all, we will have a healthier club that will be easier to deal with, with different support, a different structure, which Antonio and Neto did not have at the beginning. Hence the importance of them, but we will have people who can get ahead,” he said, citing names such as Daniel Braganza, Pedro Gonçalves, Nuno Santos, Paulinho or Yulmand as examples.
On Saturday, Sporting will host Desportiva Chaves in a match that will start at 18:00 at the José Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, with Manuel Oliveira (Porto) refereeing.
In addition to saying goodbye to Neto and Adan, the end of the meeting will be marked by a ceremony declaring the Lions national champions for the 2023/24 season and presenting the corresponding trophy to the team led by Ruben Amorim.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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