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| Monday, 23 August 2010 23:47 |
Official: Otamendi joins FC PortoDefender signs five-year deal with Dragoes FC Porto have found the replacement for Bruno Alves as the club communicated through the Portuguese stock market that they have have successully sealed the signature of Velez Sarsfield centre-back Nicolas Otamendi.
The accord stipulated by the northern Portuguese club states that Porto will pay 4 million euros for 50% of the player's rights with the option to pay for the remaining half by Septermber 5, 2011 for the same amount. It was no secret of Porto's desire to land the Argentine as the two-time European champions have been after Otamnedi for weeks and now have locked the defender for the next five years. The deal has not yet been complete as the South American has still to undergo routine medical exams, but all signs point to the negotiation as good as done. Porto manager Andre Villas Boas admited previously that he would have been delighted at capturing the 22-year-old, adding that when Porto puts their mind to a transfer, they always come out prosperous. "Otamendi is an important player who interested a lot of big European clubs, but when Porto entered into negotiations for Otamendi, I believe that it will be successful." Meanwhile, forward Ukra has been released from hospital following an operation on fractures to his nose and jaw suffered during a collision in the match against Beira-Mar last night. The 22-year-old was replaced in the opening minutes of the Dragons’ 3-0 victory. Villas Boas will also be able to count on the services of Hulk, who returned to training on Monday. The Brazilian forward missed the win over Beira-Mar due to attending personal matters in his home country. Keep up to date with all the latest news on Portuguese football with the new PortuGOAL Twitter! |
Maicon cant be doing that bad, they havnt copped any goals lately.
It's too early to say how he'll get on throughout the whole season and this signing is essential to bolster the strength in numbers in central defence after Bruno's exit.
Another thing that worries me is the lack of leadership in defence. Porto have always had good leaders like Bruno Alves, Pepe, Jorge Costa, Aloisio but I don't see those qualities in any of our current defenders. Maybe Otamendi can fulfil that role?
Maicon his doing a regular job and needs more playing time. Otamendi will fight for the 11 and will put things more tight on trainings and get the best of both defenders. About Maicon, I'm sure he will be very good defender soon (reminds me Pepe), but he needs some strong competition to his place and attention to improve, because with Genk he did some brute errors on defense, if it wasn't the great Helton...
BTW 100% of his pass (8 million) for an international is more cheaper than the pass of some goalkeepers...