Filipe Luis signs for Atletico Madrid
Spanish club Atletico Madrid continue to strengthen their team ahead of the new season; their latest signing is the left back from Brazil Filipe Luis who has been playing in Spain for Deportivo La Corunia.
The club confirmed in a press conference that the deal has been completed. Filipe completed his medical on Friday, and put pen to paper to complete the formalities. Luis spent 4 years at Deportivo where he did not win any silverware.
The deal is believed to be worth 13.5 million Euros, the left back was later displayed to the fans at the club stadium Vicente Calderon.
Spanish champions Barcelona were also believed to be interested in his services, and he almost did join the Catalans last season. The demand from Deportivo though put off the champions which was around 20 million Euros. Barcelona then changed their mind and decided to sign Maxwell from Inter Milan.
Last season for him was not a very productive one; he suffered an injury to his right fibula while playing against Athletic Bilbao in January. He missed a good chunk of the season before coming back towards the end.
The injury also resulted in him missing out on the chance of making it to the World Cup for Brazil. Filipe has so far just appeared once for his country and has played more than 100 games for Deportivo La Caronia in the 4 year period at the club.
The club is expected to use the money gained from his sale to pay off 4 million Euros that the club owed to Sergio Gonzalez in unpaid wages. If Deportivo fail to clear their debts with the midfielder they can be taken to task by the authorities and a punishment of being relegated can also be a possibility. Deportivo are also expected to pay Atletico around 2 million from last year following the transfer of defender Ze Castro.
Meanwhile Filipe was very happy to have completed the move. He said that it has been a long process, but he is happy that in the end it ended well for him. He said that he is very happy to be part of a club that has so much history and tradition. He said that he has always adored the club. He did have a brief stint at Real Madrid as a youngster. Filipe said that it was Real Madrid who introduced him to Spanish football but he has always wanted to be part of Atletico.
He said that he does not regret not being able to become part of Barcelona last year; he said at that time he was interested in moving to the Catalans but now he is ecstatic to go to Atletico.
He said he is looking forward to playing alongside the likes of Diego Forlan, he added that he was fascinated by how Forlan was able to control the Jabulani ball. Filipe said that Forlan has long been an influential player in Spanish football and he cannot wait to team up with him.
He said that the team coach Quique Sanchez Flores is also someone he has admired for a while; he said the way he took his team to Europa league glory last season was fantastic. Filipe said that even though the team will not be part of Champions’ League but playing in Europa league and defending the title will be a great experience. The Brazilian said that the team is heading in the right direction and this season will put up a great challenge to the city Rivals Real Madrid, and also to Barcelona for the title.
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