Some Crystal Palace fans will certainly remember the strange period that Swedish defender Erdal Rakip spent at the club.
Benfica who signed him on a free transfer from Malmo back in January 2018. One day later, they announced his temporary move to the London side.
It was revealed by the Portuguese press that Crystal Palace even had a clause to buy him for €10m at the end of the season, which sounded like a genius move for Benfica to make such a quick profit.
But it turned out that he didn’t have a successful loan spell in England, not making any appearances, and only getting on the bench a few times. That’s why he returned to Benfica at the end of the season.
He stayed in Portugal for one more year, where he didn’t play, and then was sold back to Malmo in a €500k deal. This was a hard time for him, as he’s revealed in an interview with Fotbollskanalen.
“The plan was to be loaned until the summer and then I would come back and get a chance. A preseason with the team and see where you were, but I didn’t get that chance. When they (Benfica) started, I was still in the B-team. I couldn’t show myself. But such is life abroad, you can’t trust anyone. When I didn’t get the chance, it was only to endure for six months over there, until the window opened again. When it was winter, I thought it was time. You get older and this is the period in your career that you need to play.”
“As I said, I would come back and get a preseason, but I didn’t get that. You can’t trust things they say. But what’s done is done, now I am here trying to forget it and bring the positives.”
Rakip doesn’t sound so down on his time in England, even if that also didn’t go well: “At the same time, in Crystal Palace they had many injured and it went well in the beginning and I was on the bench the first five matches. I felt involved and was close. Football can go fast. Had there been an injury, they would have been in the starting eleven and played. You have to take a chance at life. It was an experience as a player as well.”
