It’s no secret Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho loves a good interview, and now that the European media knows him better, thanks partly to West Ham, there have been many press requests at the club.
O Jogo today cover a chat the president had with Greek outlet SDNA, which was made before Sporting’s Champions League match against Olympiacos.
Of course the game wasn’t the only subject Bruno talked about, and he also managed to discuss the summer transfer business.
“In this activity we need to know how to get the most out of our most valuable assets. It’s very important. Clubs that are not part of the economic elite of football need to make good sales to remain viable. From the point of view of sports management, the better we sell, the more we earn respect from other clubs. And from the economic point of view, it is extremely important for us to achieve sustained growth.
“I have the reputation of being tough on the negotiations and it’s true. I put the interests of Sporting above all and defend them. In Europe, every club knows that anyone who wants to sign our players has to pay what I think is fair. The clearance at Sporting ended.”
This is clearly a message for clubs who thought they could negotiate the Sporting down on transfer fees, and that, of course, very much includes West Ham, who tried to get a bargain when signing William Carvalho.
In fact, the message will be more to West Ham than anyone else, Bruno won’t have forgotten his spat with them so easily.
William Carvalho who had been injured (or ‘injured’) during the West Ham negotiations, is not only back to the Sporting squad, but also doing very well. On Tuesday night, he was Man of the Match, according to A Bola, after a great performance against Olympiacos.
