Bournemouth winger Luis Sinisterra landed in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday to complete the final stages of his move to Cruzeiro.
As we have followed in the past few days, Colombian has been going through medical examinations and dealing with paperwork, with the club preparing to announce him as their first signing of the transfer window.
Yesterday, speaking to local journalist Jaeci Carvalho, Cruzeiro vice-president Pedro Junio admitted the deal was far from simple, stressing the difficulty of bringing in a Premier League player.
“It wasn’t easy negotiating with the English club, right? Taking a player out of the Premier League today isn’t easy, right?”, he said. “But Sinisterra was presented with our project, a long-term project, a structured project, with people here who understand his potential.
“He has a dream of playing at the World Cup next year. And we showed him that here at Cruzeiro it would be a unique opportunity for him to show the great football he has. The one he showed at Feyenoord. The one he showed at Leeds.”
Junio added: “At Bournemouth he had some injuries, but he is now 100% recovered. He has no injury. He is finishing his medical exams today, and it’s likely we will announce him on Friday.”
Junio’s comments underline both the effort Cruzeiro made to convince the winger and the ambition of the player himself, who sees Brazil as the right stage to fight for a World Cup place.
The deal is set to be a season-long loan with an option to buy, and with medicals completed, Sinisterra is only days away from being unveiled in Belo Horizonte.
