15 June 2007, by Marco Pereira

Vieira blasts press rumours

“Linz, Kazmierczak or Edgar will never play for Benfica!”

Benfica president, Luis Filipe Vieira, has come out and blasted rumours that the club are involved in a heated battle with rivals FC Porto over the signatures of several Liga players.

News surfaced that the two clubs were wrangling over the acquisition of Kazmierczak (Boavista) and Edgar (Beira-Mar), with Linz (Boavista) being the latest player supposedly at the centre of a tug of war.

It was first reported that the Lisbon club had come to terms with the players’ clubs and only had to settle personal terms with each player.

Now the Portuguese press have claimed that FC Porto have snatched Kazmierczak and Edgar from underneath their counterpart’s noses. Speaking on Portuguese Radio station, Radio Renascenca, the Benfica president has slammed the news that the club were even attempting to sign any of the aforementioned players.

“Linz will never be a Benfica player! Edgar will never be a Benfica player! Kazmierczak will never be a Benfica player! This is what we are saying without questioning each athlete’s merit. We are not interested in any of them!”

“We know the players who we are trying to sign and we will not purchase players out of a catalogue. We are trying to negotiate the players who are in accordance with what the coach wants and not what I or what other people want.”

The Benfica supremo added that the club are not interested in selling any of their players, despite any clauses in their contracts, as rumours continue to abound that clubs across Europe are interested in Nuno Gomes, Simao and Nelson to name a few.

Vieira did confess that an offer did come in for one of the players, not mentioning which one, but that the offer was rejected outright due to what the club consider an undervaluation of one of their assets.


Related: Open warfare between Porto and Benfica