MOSCOW, July 7 CSKA reached an agreement with the Brazilian Internacional Regarding compensation for the return of football player Mario Fernandez and closed this issue, the deal fell through for other reasons, said Kirill Breido, director of communications for the Moscow club, in his Telegram channel.
Earlier, a source said that 32-year-old Fernandez will go to Zenit and will receive two million euros a year. The player's agent, Jorge Machado, told the agency that it was he who made the decision to end talks about returning to CSKA, not the player. The head coach of the St. Petersburg team, Sergei Semak, said on Friday that the player is interesting to Zenit, but there is no final decision on the transition yet.
“I don’t want to enter into discussions with Telegram channels, but let’s still separate false information from what really happened. We are convinced that the payment of compensation for a player whom the club met halfway and released free of charge, despite the presence of a two-year contract «, is incorrect in itself. Nevertheless, the club reached an agreement with Internacional to pay the required amount and thus closed the issue of compensation for Mario. A smaller amount of agency agent was offered, as was the salary of a football player, but this is a completely different conversation, » Braido wrote.
Also, the communications director of the Red-Blues addressed the fans of the army club, noting that the club's press service cannot promptly comment and respond to certain transfer rumors, because sometimes this can damage the negotiation process.
“We understand that within one day it is difficult to perceive incoming information without emotions, and that a large number of rumors gives rise to a large number of questions. But, unfortunately, it is not always possible to give clear explanations. To announce some kind of transition, just to calm? And if he breaks down? Or confirm someone's departure without signatures? And if this information gets in the way during important negotiations for the club? When something becomes clear, we immediately comment. We are very open, as much as possible. But it is often impossible to comment on transfer issues non-stop; they don't dare like that, it's not a reality show,» Breido said.
Fernandez played for CSKA for 10 years, and in May 2022 he left the club with a valid contract, he announced that he was suspending his career. The defender noted that if he returned to Russia, he would play only for the army team. In December 2022, Fernandez resumed his career and began to play for the Brazilian Internacional on loan. In April, he left the team for personal reasons. A native of Brazil, Fernandez has Russian citizenship. He played 33 matches as part of the Russian national team, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2018 home world championship with the national team.