In the summer window, Nottingham Forest took Jota Silva from Vitória de Guimarães, securing him to a four-year deal.
The attacking midfielder has made two substitute appearances in the league, and scored in the Reds’ EFL Cup defeat to Newcastle United.
Vitória de Guimarães president António Miguel Cardoso has been to Desportivo, relayed by O Jogo, about the 25-year-old’s sale to Nottingham Forest.
He didn’t go into specifics on the fee his side received from the player’s sale to the English club. The newspaper claims it’s around €7m plus €5m bonuses, but Vitória seem to have paid out a chunk to the player’s former clubs and two payments to agents, and Cardoso didn’t really want to state the money they’ll be left with.
The club president revealed the Portugal international rejected better financial offers from elsewhere to join Nuno Espírito Santo’s side.
He hasn’t mentioned the details, but said these clubs were from “emerging markets”. He wasn’t convinced and held out for Nottingham Forest.
“There were indeed more clubs interested. We had another offer that was higher, but we have to be aware of what the player wants,” he said.
“If the player dreams of going to the Premier League, if the player doesn’t want to go to emerging markets, as was the case with these offers, or to peripheral markets, we have to be sensitive to that.
“Could Vitória have lost money because of the player’s wishes? That often happens in football. Often, we don’t realise it, but we get offers from clubs where the players don’t want to go.
“It’s their career. And, in this house, we managed to reconcile a club that wanted Jota, a league that Jota wanted, salary figures for Jota that I even think are lower than the other proposals, but he had this objective.”
The president’s admission clearly indicates Jota Silva pushed for a move to Nottingham Forest to fulfil his dream of playing in the Premier League.
Jota Silva had entered his final year of contract at Vitória de Guimarães when they sold him to the Reds. Cardoso insists the player had assured them he wouldn’t have left on a free.
