Andrade: I Had To Convince President To Lower Asking Price
Portuguese defender Jorge Andrade will sign tomorrow for Juventus after convincing Deportivo's president to lower his asking price for him.
He was already forced to stay to stay in Galicia last summer, when a bad knee injury forced him to skip the World Cup and put him out of the picture for a possible transfer away from the Riazor. Portuguese defender Jorge Andrade, 29 years old, was about to miss the train once again, and this time it could have been the last that comes along.
The negotiations between Deportivo and Juventus had stalled: the La Coruña club, who have been experiencing a serious economic crisis the last few seasons after the glory of the early 2000s, wanted to earn the highest amount possible from the sale of their best defender. At that point it was the player himself who approached the club president, Cesar Lendoiro: "I want to go to Juve", Andrade said, "the offer is good and for me it would be an great opportunity."
By then the negotiations started going underway: around 8 to 10 million euros will go to the Spanish club, a three-year deal worth 2 million euros a season for the player. It cannot not have been easy, because in past seasons Lendoiro had always made huge demands for the player's sale when clubs like Arsenal, Barcelona, and Manchester United came asking for the player.
Bought from Porto in 2002 for 12 million euros, Lendoiro had attached a massive 60 million euro buy-out clause. It was the time when Deportivo had dreams of glory, and wanted to rule in la Liga and the Champions League, spending over 55 million euros in 2001 alone.
Goal.com
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So he isn't ours yet