Nene sweepstakes heats up

Club president adds fuel to speculation

The guessing game as to where Nene will end up next season has taken a turn as the club president, Rui Alves, has stated that the club have suspended negotiations with Russian outfit Lokomotiv Moscow and added that the Portugal big three have all shown an interest in the Brazilian striker.

It is believed that the Moscow side have taken a shine to the Liga's top goal-scorer and have placed a 4 million euro offer to take the former Ipatinga player to the Russian capital.

But Nacional's club supremo declared, after the club's 2-2 draw againt Pacos de Ferreira in the Portuguese Cup, that they have decided to wait and see how the club will perform in the competition before making a decision on whether to sell the player, citing that the team's performances in the Cup may further enhance the player's value.

"If Nacional get to Jamor and maintain the team they have now, they have a 50% chance of winning the Portuguese Cup. We can sell him for 4 million euros, but at the end of the season he could be worth 8 million," reasoned Alves.  

As to whether Nacional have received any concrete bids from FC Porto , Benfica or Sporting, Alves claimed that the clubs have not placed formal offers, but that representatives have made informal enquiries into the player's availability.

"Formally? No," admitted Alves. "It is true that contacts from agents who work in the game have shown interest, but I think that is not sufficient. Besides, Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting prefer to sign players from Argentina or Brazil and not Nacional."

by Marco Pereira