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September 12, 2024

Squad Now More Complete and Prepared for Present and Future – Primeira Liga

The coach addresses the media ahead of the match against FC Arouca.

Sporting Clube de Portugal will face FC Arouca this Friday for Matchday 5 of the Liga Portugal season. In his pre-match press conference, coach Rúben Amorim addressed the departure of Arouca’s two key attacking players, Rafa Mujica and Cristo González.

“Cristo and Mujica had a huge impact on their attacking ability. I said last year that they were one of the best teams in terms of playing football, because they were very good at making decisions, using one or two touches. Cristo is, in my opinion, a player with great skill, he will be sorely missed and it’s a shame that coaches lose players like that -when they can no longer do anything in the transfer market. Mujica’s attacking up top was very good, but I think Henrique [Araújo] also has that and, therefore, that characteristic remains. Obviously, Mujica is a bit more wily, let’s say, but I think Henrique has great potential and quality,” he clarified.

“Cristo is very difficult to replace and I think that is an advantage for us, but there will be another player there. Pedro Santos, who had a great season last year and can play in that position. There may be some changes and we will be prepared for that,” the coach continued by saying.

“FC Arouca are a team that maintain one characteristic: They like to have the ball and they like to press. They had a great season last year. David Simão cannot be given much space, because he launches the team forward and they attack well from deep. I am sure it will be a very difficult game and we will be prepared for it.” 

About closing the transfer window, he gave a final evaluation of Sporting CP’s summer activities.

“Clearly, we cannot complain. We have lowered the average age of the squad, we are already preparing for the future, we currently have players and, if we look at the positions as a whole, we have a more complete squad, with potential and prepared for the present and future of Sporting CP.”

“This transfer market has just closed and Viktor Gyokeres is still with us. We had a plan for a player to come in already made and if we didn’t manage it, that is part of our life. If we didn’t manage to get that player, Conrad Harder, we had a plan and a list of potential players. We looked at him. We went for a player with potential. We don’t want a second Viktor; that would be impossible and a mistake. What we wanted was a player with similar characteristics, so that if something happens to Viktor, the team don’t have to change their characteristics. He’s not just a supporting player with no depth, because that would confuse the team. We looked at the list of potential players we have here and who can guarantee the same way of playing, and Conrad was at the top of the list. There was an English Premier League club that offered more than us, so you can see the world of difference that exists. We looked at Conrad’s potential, what he can give us now, and he does not change the characteristics of our way of playing”.

He mentioned that the Danish forward might be able to play as soon as Friday, and Franco Israel is expected to be the starting goalkeeper. The unavailable players include Kovačević, St. Juste, Rafael Nel, and Diogo Pinto, while the international players have returned to Lisbon.

“I was happy that they were called up and were involved for their countries. As for whether they will be used, that depends on the coach and the games. I always hope that they come back without injuries, and that happened.” 

He also shared his thoughts on the club’s expectations for this year.

“Since last year I said that we wanted to be champions, and that is the objective this season too. In the first year we were underdogs, but from then on I always remember saying that we were candidates for the title. We really wanted to be two-time champions, because we hadn’t been for 70 years and I think it was an important step for our club. We saw in this market: The fact that a club are in the UEFA Champions League completely changes the scenario, so we want to continue like this. We know that the work is not done, we want to be Champions again, we want to return to the UEFA Champions League to keep as many of our players as possible.”

About the remarks made by club president Frederico Varandas at the Thinking Football Summit, an event organized by Liga Portugal, where he emphasized that the coach deserves significant credit for the players’ development, Amorim acknowledged the contributions of the entire organization. When asked if he would sign a new contract with Sporting CP at this moment, he responded that:  “I have a contract with Sporting CP, I am very happy here, but it was the work of everyone and the president also said that. It is unfair to talk only about the coach, the director, the president… There is a group of people here who help the players to develop. I would say that the merit goes to everyone, as the president also said.”