Benfica are very close on completing the signing of Everton Cebolinha from Grêmio. The winger left the pitch in tears following his farewell match for the Brazilian club last night.
Many reports from Brazil have been claiming that the Portuguese side won a race against Everton for the player. It’s even been said that Carlo Ancelotti called the 24-year-old to convince him of moving to the Goodison Park.
But Everton Cebolinha would rather move to Lisbon, and there are some people who agree with his decision. Journalist Zé Alberto is one of them. The writer has a column in Zero Hora today with the reasons why it’d be better for the player to join Benfica than Everton.
He starts by saying that while the offer from the Toffees would be better both for Grêmio and for Cebolinha, the choice is not about the money.
Showing the good side of a move to Everton, Zé Alberto points out that the Premier League is the best league in the world, and Liverpool is a ‘marvellous city’.
However, the Toffees are ‘far from being’ candidates for the league title, besides not having qualified for the Champions League. He also says the adaptation to England would be tough due to the language and culture.
That’s the opposite scenario of Benfica, who besides being title contenders, are playing the Champions League and are based in a country which speaks Portuguese, who have a very similar culture to Brazil’s.
Despite many claims of Everton’s bid for the signing of Cebolinha, we’re still to see a report saying how much the Toffees really put on the table for the move.
