It was almost an inevitable path: the second best season in history in terms of goals (23, only surpassed by the 24 of 2019/20 also in Minho), the season with the most offensive influence on the team (33 goals, 23 scored and ten more assists), a place in the history of Sp. Braga by becoming the top scorer in the club’s history, surpassing Mário Laranjo (93). “It was a special season for me”, assumed Ricardo Horta at the end of the League. And he did not stop there: some eight years later, he was summoned to the National Team again, he was a substitute with Spain and it did not take him long to specify what would be the tie in Seville eight minutes from the end. Final after assistance from João Cancelo. At the same time, the “game” was changing.
António Salvador knew that the invitations of the attacking midfielder/forward (according to the team’s needs and strategy) would not take long and he also knew that one would have to come from Luz, where the player spent several years in the formation after passing through Corroios and before completing the last year of junior at V. Setúbal. Roger Schmidt, Benfica’s new coach, endorsed the Portuguese international, who above all was a strong commitment by the president himself, Rui Costa. However, the most difficult part was missing: convince sp. Braga. And the first proposal generated a series of chapters without the novel having left the same rhythm.
The Reds made a proposal of ten million euros to Minho for the transfer of the 27-year-old, divided between Sp. Braga and Malaga. It was rejected. And from there, several reactions were generated.
“I only found out about the proposal through the press. The person who has to communicate the proposal to Malaga is Sp. Braga is not Benfica. The p. Braga is obliged to inform us and so far has not done so. Málaga has 67% of the player’s pass. It is also true that there is an agreement and that Sp. Braga, if you reject a proposal above five million, must keep 67% of Malaga”, explained to the newspaper A Bola Manolo Gaspar, sports director of the Spanish club that finished eighteenth in the last Second League, just two points from the relegation zone where Amorebieta fell. That is, according to the official, there were two possible paths: accept the offer or pay 6.7 million to keep 100% of the pass. At the same time, Gaspar rejected that part of the player’s pass is in the hands of third parties and that he only has 15%.
Antonio Salvador, president of SP. Braga, gave another version. “The only entity that decides on its assets is Sp. Braga and Sp. Braga has already said it and repeats it he is not interested in trading Ricardo Horta. If a club goes the way of a third club to pressure to sell, so that some business can be done, in this case Ricardo Horta, it is wrong and it is worrying that a club of this magnitude enters through less clear paths. which may not be correct. And they are not. We received the proposal from Benfica that we reject outright, we don’t discuss it or want to analyze it, because we don’t want to negotiate. It was ten million. Just renovated until 2026, he is very satisfied, he has already marked history in SP. Braga has given a lot to the club. I am sure it will continue in SP. Braga”, he told SIC Notícias.
“There are conditions in the contract when the player came from Málaga but it is not as it appears in some media or as someone tried to go to the media to try to put pressure on Sp. Braga. What percentage does Malaga own? It doesn’t matter here, Sp. When Braga signed Malaga and didn’t pay a single euro for him, there were passes that don’t matter now and that’s clear and it’s in the Reports and Accounts. We are an open SAD, it is on the stock market, everything is very clear there. There is nothing to pay, nothing to decide for the third club, it’s just Sp. braga that decides on the assets of Ricardo Horta and all the assets of Sp. Braga”, reinforced the Minho leader, emphasizing the permanence of the player.
The Arsenal manager knows that it will not be easy to keep the player in Pedreira, but he spoke publicly to make his position clear in relation to possible new proposals, knowing not only that Ricardo Horta is part of Benfica’s list of priorities, but also that the Reds expect a fit big with Darwin Núñez, probably the club’s second biggest sale (at least considering the only formal offer rejected in Luz, according to the Observer). However, and in addition to this connection with Malaga, there was one more point that left the disgusted minho with the management of the process and that it has to do with a E-mail.
According to CMTV, in information confirmed by a source from Braga to the channel, Malaga’s response to the E-mail Posted by Sp. Braga placed the sports director of Benfica, Rui Pedro Braz, in the CC and this fact is understood by SAD dos minhotos as a violation of the confidentiality agreement that had been signed between the parties in 2017, which may interfere with the understanding of the percentages that will have to be paid if the international leaves Pedreira. Right or wrong, only time will tell.
“The goal is a feeling of pride. I am here on merit. We lacked victory, it was what we wanted but it was not possible. We played against a great team, I’m happy with the draw but we wanted to win. We couldn’t find the right spaces, we corrected ourselves at half-time and the second half was better. There are many games left, we have three more in seven days, and we are already thinking about the next one. Future? At this moment I am only focused on the Selection, I want to show my football and enjoy every minute”, commented Ricardo Horta in Seville, after the goal that tied Portugal with Spain in the Nations League.
Source: Observadora
