Former Ericeirense president António Mano Silva has gone on hunger strike as he seeks money he believes he’s owed from Matheus Nunes’ move from Wolverhampton Wanderers to Manchester City.
O Jogo cover the situation around him today as he seeks what he believes he is owed from Nunes’ move to England and subsequent switch to the Etihad.
Ericeirense currently play in the first division of the AF Lisboa in Portugal, the second division of the Lisbon Football Association league.
They are the club where Nunes started his career before heading to Estoril Beach in 2018. From there he went to Sporting Club de Portugal’s youth set up before then joining Wolverhampton Wanderers in a €47.4m deal in 2022. A year later he had joined Manchester City in a €62m deal.
Thanks to FIFA’s solidarity scheme, Ericeirense benefitted from both of those transfers, securing funds as they are one of the midfielder’s training clubs.
Mano Silva believes he is due a part of those funds, with him explaining he was a guarantor for several loans while in charge of the club that are yet to be paid back to him and since the the Nunes money was received the debt should have been settled.
“I have started an indefinite hunger strike in protest against the club’s directors, who received 2.3 million euros for the transfer of the athlete Matheus Nunes from Sporting to Manchester City and refuse to pay what the club owes me,” he said in statements to Lusa.
Ericeirense have disputed this claim, arguing that their former president has never presented “elements to prove their aforementioned credit” to prove his claim.
This has forced him into his current stance, with A Bola explaining Mano Silva’s argument is that he was the guarantor for several loas for the construction of the club’s sports complex. The club was unable to generate revenue to pay the debt and as such, personal assets belonging to him valued at more than €6m were seized. He was also evicted from his house in 2024.
He’s now accused the current Ericeirense board of “falsifying accounts” to stop him receiving what he’s owed from Nunes’ transfer to Manchester City from Wolves despite them having “received and validated all the documentation” regarding the debts.
It’s not the first time he’s gone on hunger striker after doing the same in 2009 and it seems he feels it is necessary again to get what he feels he is owed.
