Pinto da Costa: “We signed David Carmo without a pen”

Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa assumed the football team had been left with a “big gap” with the departure of Congolese defender Chancel Mbemba and that the midfielder had asked for a clean seven million euros to continue, praising the negotiations that had taken place. With Sporting de Braga president Antonio Salvador signing David Carmo.

«From the moment Mpemba left because he wanted to and not because we did not negotiate, because we tried everything and came up with numbers that we probably shouldn’t reach… Send a letter to engineer Luis Gonsalves [ndr: a dizer] Who was willing to stay at FC Porto, but wanted a salary of seven million euros clean. Now, when a player, whoever he is, asks a club like FC Porto – or any Portuguese club – for a salary of seven million euros clean, I think it would be nicer to say: “I can’t continue, I have another player goals”», he began by telling Canal Porto.

There, we created a huge gap and needed a centralization that would give us maximum guarantees. We studied a lot, received many offers from the players, but the coach gave the green light without any doubt to David Carmo. Since then, it has been necessary to negotiate with Salvador and it has always been difficult, but there is an advantage: when Salvador comes to an agreement, he shakes hands, and then, whatever may happen, the contract is closed. The best people who negotiate hard, but don’t have to write anymore. We made the contract with David Carmo without a pen, it was like that and like, we shook hands and it was done,” he said, of the signing of the central defender.

“After that he had many contacts with better offers and he always said: ‘It was already done with FC Porto. This gives peace of mind, having people with whom you can negotiate in this way. There were others we ended up with because David’s bar was high, the condition was €40m and there were 30 offers that didn’t materialize because the player wasn’t too interested in going to certain clubs either. Fortunately it was resolved.”

Eustáquio, Vitinha and restorations

Regarding the renovations, Pinto da Costa noted that “work is underway to improve conditions” and spoke about Gonzalo Borges as well as the continuity of Eustacia definitively.

“The renewals we are dealing with, I think Gonzalo Borges will be a player, if he has a good head, if he dedicates himself 100% as he did, he can be a player who will add a lot to the team, hence the reason for our contract. With Eustáquio, we also concluded a five-year contract. , it is a possession because he was on loan, but the coach understood, we made an effort and signed a player who will be important in the midfield,” he said.

Bento da Costa also analyzed Vitina’s move to Paris Saint-Germain, confirming that any players from the tough heart of FC Porto leave only under the clause, and this is in relation to a possible new departure.

“The outputs, of course, are predictable. We have 30 singles players, and we can’t score 30 singles. Now, what I said, for example when talking about Vitinha, is that we have an offer of 30 million and I said he will only get 40 million and as long as we get the money soon Vitinha only closed at 9pm on the last day [ndr: do exercício financeiro]. He stressed the importance of Jorge Mendes’ contribution there.

The Blues and Whites leader also addressed the new FC Porto Academy, stating that he is “at an accelerated pace”.