In the past couple of days, we’ve seen Brazilian side Vasco da Gama being reported as competition to Leeds United in the race for Abel Hernandez.
Currently running out of contract with Hull City, the player will soon be free to sign for any club, making it a fair competition between the interested sides.
However, there are a few factors that lead us to believe that Leeds are much more likely to land the player than Vasco, and that’s what we’re explaining in this story, from a Brazilian perspective.
The first thing is: the rumour isn’t very strong in Brazil. It was only reported by Diário Carioca, a very small outlet, founded in 2017, which doesn’t have any huge weight. The big local newspapers or websites don’t have a single mention of Vasco’s interest in Hernandez.
Even though the Elland Road side haven’t played in the Premier League for a while, they can still be considered a solid English club, with everything running normally, and with an interesting plan to try to get Premier League promotion now with Marcelo Bielsa.
That’s not the same for Vasco.
The club from Rio de Janeiro were relegated to the Brazilian second division three times in the past ten years. They managed to get back to the first tier all these times, but still are far from being a great force who fights for the big titles.
You can say ‘that’s better than spending eight years in the Championship’, but no. Believe us, the Brazilian second division isn’t anything like the Championship, and to be relegated that many times you have to be pretty bad.
Vasco also have a problem with their debts. Payments to their players are often delayed for over a month. Not long ago, a water company threatened to cut the club’s supply due to the lack of payments. They actually did it back in 2012, but seem to be a little more patient this time.
We also doubt that Vasco can match Leeds’ offer. According to reports from Brazil, their most expensive players earn a salary of around £15k a week. The Championship side can surely pay Hernandez more than that.
That’s a situation that Abel Hernandez is probably aware of, since his entourage is also South American. So in case he picks Vasco, he’s really wishing to return to his continent and is taking the first offer he gets. Otherwise, no sane man would pick the Brazilian side over Leeds United.
