The more the Portuguese press give details on Erdal Rakip’s transfer from Benfica to Crystal Palace, the stranger this story gets.
Local outlets continue to follow the player’s steps in England, and as he managed to score a goal playing for Palace’s U-23 team against Charlton Athletic yesterday, this fact has made it to most of the Portuguese sports newspapers.
But besides covering the news, A Bola explains the player’s situation once again, and this time reveals one more detail that doesn’t make much sense.
The newspaper explains that the player signed for Benfica on a free after his contract with Malmo expired, but was soon sent Crystal to Palace on a six-month loan with a €10m buying option.
And now besides claiming that Benfica tried to cancel the loan when one of their midfielders got injured, they also say Rakip is kind of a long term signing for the Portuguese club.
A Bola reports the player has arrived to replace midfielder Pizzi in case of a possible departure next summer.
But how can you expect Rakip to be back at the end of the season if you give Crystal Palace a buying option over him? This is a theory that doesn’t make sense at all.
Or maybe Benfica just made a bad decision and are now regretting it. Still, either they end up with €10m profit from Crystal Palace, or the player back… so it’s not the end of the world.
