Rui Costa admits ‘sensitive situation’ over loss of ownership of Vlachimos

The loss of Odysseas Vlachodimos against Benfica was a “sensitive situation” that hastened the departure of the Greek footballer to English club Nottingham Forest, the incarnations president Rui Costa analyzed on Tuesday.

“Vlachimos represented Benfica for five years and deserves the greatest respect from me and from all Benfica fans. After what happened and realizing that he could lose his seat, he wanted to find a solution himself. This has never gone unnoticed. Last season, two days before the end of the market, he had a very lucrative offer from Ajax, but we could not even consider it, as the market was closing and we had no decision, “the director said when evaluating the performance of the champions countries in the closed season in an interview with BTV.

A regular starter since arriving at Luz in 2018/19, Odysseas Vlachimos lost that status after a 3-2 defeat at home to Boavista in the first round of League I, which the Panthers sealed with a comeback. in the middle of the compensation period, leaving at the end of the market a fixed amount of 4.9 million euros (ME) plus 4.4 in bonuses.

“Coming [Anatoliy] Trubin feared not only the competition at the gate, but also the possible departure of Vlachimos. The offer came from Nottingham, beneficial not only to Benfica from a financial point of view, but also in fact to the athlete. Playing in the English league was one of his goals. In the course of a thoughtful conversation, we thought that the best solution for both parties would be to give in to this offer and look for a different experience for the player. From all sides, we have come to the conclusion that his cycle is over. We are always grateful for what Vlachodimos has done.”

Rui Costa expressed “full confidence” in the young Samuel Soares, who took the lead in the next three matches, and the reinforced Anatoliy Trubin, who moved from the champions of Ukraine Shakhtar by 10 IU plus one by converting a goal.

“It was known that we were going to look for another goalkeeper. Initially, Trubin was not in Benfica’s plans because we thought he was practically unreachable, until we realized that we had a window of opportunity to be able to contact this goalkeeper, who is mentioned all over Europe. It was inconceivable that he would be with us if his contract ended. There were clubs with greater financial capacity and the ability to offer him other ways, but we anticipated this maneuver and got the goalkeeper that I am. I am convinced that in the near future it will become one of the best in Europe,” he said.

Also entering was Turkish midfielder Orkun Kokcu, who became the biggest boost in Luz club history when he arrived from Dutch champions Feyenoord for 25 IU, with five more in variables, but Rui Costa discounted the amount involved.

“Kokchu has been identified for a long time. I can tell since Enzo is gone [Fernández para o Chelsea, em fevereiro]if we had market time or if the transaction was made at the beginning of the month [de janeiro], a player has been selected by us. He is 22 years old, he is an extraordinary player and phenomenally versed in the game. Nobody doubts this value. Since we had the conditions and the target for this position was him, we did not hesitate at all,” the president said in a closed season in which Benfica hired seven athletes.

David Jurasek (ex-Slavia Prague, 14 ME) and Juan Bernat, on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, came to fill the left flank after the departure of Spaniard Grimaldo, whose contract ended after seven and a half seasons. at Luz and signed a contract with the German team Bayer Leverkusen.

“We did everything to keep him at the club. We hadn’t finalized the negotiations yet, but also understood, as he explained, that he was respectfully looking for another challenge. He did not fail to represent us until the last day with great pleasure. professionalism and dignity. In these last tests [de 2022/23]which were necessary to win the title, Grimaldo was at a very high level,” he stressed.