Tete is our future
Thursday, February 28, 2019
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Shakhtar CEO Sergei Palkin on transfers
- Mr. Palkin, are you satisfied with the transfer campaign results?
- First of all, I want to say that many leaders have left the team. These days, we are close to forming the new, updated Shakhtar. Over the past six months, we have carried out a very good, quality transfer policy, and most importantly, we have not departed from our philosophy of relying on the youth. Maycon, Fernando, Marcos Antonio, Cipriano, Dodo, Tete. Many experts say these days that, by and large, this is the future of Brazil national team. I would like to mention the Ukrainians: Mudryk is the best in his age category, Sikan is a promising striker. Plus we pin great hopes on Solomon. All these guys are very talented, professional and promising. They are Shakhtar in two or three years’ time. I want to repeat that we are not departing from our strategy. We believe that the philosophy we chose more than 15 years ago would bear fruit.
- The players you named are mainly attackers. Only Bondarenko is a defensive signing, and I’ve already heard criticism that Shakhtar doesn’t buy any players for the defensive third.
- Let's just say that the fans had certain questions when we conceded goals at the hands of Eintracht. But I want to draw your attention to the fact that the entire team are conceding goals or losing. Had just the central defenders been to blame, they would’ve been worth 100 million each. Everyone is attacking and everyone is defending. Now, let’s dwell specifically on our defensive third. Right, Rakits’kyy left, but Matviienko is available to replace him. We believe that in the future he’s one of the strongest central defenders in Europe. Mykola has got every attribute: pace, technique, launching attacks, reading the play well, and most importantly he’s got lucid mind. Everyone makes individual mistakes, just any central defender in the world. The most important thing is how to work on them. Following the same logic: in each match our attacking third also make mistakes, and if we react just like that, we will have to change the entire attacking third once in six months. Therefore, our issue is to work on individual errors and teamwork, and everything will be fine.
- How long have you been watching Tete?
- More closely we’ve been watching him for the past six months. We are talking about the scouts residing in Brazil and our main scout who came to attend the games. As a result, we have a complete and detailed picture of Tete.
- How long did the negotiations last?
- The process was very long. We held the negotiations for about two months. The main reason is that Gremio did not want to let him go. They felt that in the future this footballer could cost a lot of money. On our part, we also understood: as soon as he plays for the senior team, his value can be several times higher. We talked for a long time about numbers and other issues. The main condition of Gremio was the resale interest. They saw that the player is very talented and promising, they saw his level, therefore our contract has a 15% resale clause. It was really difficult because initially, Gremio didn’t want to hold any negotiations at all. They didn’t want to sell him.
- What is Tete’s value? What is the clausula?
- We bought Tete for 15 million euros. 10 million received from the sale of Rakits’kyy, plus we added part of the transfer fee for Fred - and invested it in the acquisition of a young talented footballer. We believe that he’s our future, that Tete will grow into a big star. As for the clausula or compensation, today we’ve set our record amount - 150 million euros.
- In different interviews, Tete compared himself to Pele. Who of Shakhtar’s former and current Brazilians does Tete resemble playing style wise?
- I think there is no specific answer of the kind. It seems to me that he’s a kind of mix of Marlos, Costa, Willian ... Tete is a very technical guy. In Brazil, they call him a hurricane - this means that he brings confusion into the opposition defence, being extremely difficult to stop. He has some serious technique, shooting and passing.
- Does Shakhtar take Tete for the position of Marlos?
- He can play in many roles: on the right, as the number 10, and on the left. He’s a versatile player.
- How do you see the future of Tete at Shakhtar in a few years?
- I’ve already said that we are about to form the new Shakhtar. I’m sure that in two years’ time, he will shine. Of course, we must understand and treat the young guys with indulgence: at age 19, it is difficult to come and discover everything for yourself. It takes some time. There will definitely be mistakes, but it’s important to have patience. We are confident in the future of Tete. We’ll be working!
- First of all, I want to say that many leaders have left the team. These days, we are close to forming the new, updated Shakhtar. Over the past six months, we have carried out a very good, quality transfer policy, and most importantly, we have not departed from our philosophy of relying on the youth. Maycon, Fernando, Marcos Antonio, Cipriano, Dodo, Tete. Many experts say these days that, by and large, this is the future of Brazil national team. I would like to mention the Ukrainians: Mudryk is the best in his age category, Sikan is a promising striker. Plus we pin great hopes on Solomon. All these guys are very talented, professional and promising. They are Shakhtar in two or three years’ time. I want to repeat that we are not departing from our strategy. We believe that the philosophy we chose more than 15 years ago would bear fruit.
- The players you named are mainly attackers. Only Bondarenko is a defensive signing, and I’ve already heard criticism that Shakhtar doesn’t buy any players for the defensive third.
- Let's just say that the fans had certain questions when we conceded goals at the hands of Eintracht. But I want to draw your attention to the fact that the entire team are conceding goals or losing. Had just the central defenders been to blame, they would’ve been worth 100 million each. Everyone is attacking and everyone is defending. Now, let’s dwell specifically on our defensive third. Right, Rakits’kyy left, but Matviienko is available to replace him. We believe that in the future he’s one of the strongest central defenders in Europe. Mykola has got every attribute: pace, technique, launching attacks, reading the play well, and most importantly he’s got lucid mind. Everyone makes individual mistakes, just any central defender in the world. The most important thing is how to work on them. Following the same logic: in each match our attacking third also make mistakes, and if we react just like that, we will have to change the entire attacking third once in six months. Therefore, our issue is to work on individual errors and teamwork, and everything will be fine.
- How long have you been watching Tete?
- More closely we’ve been watching him for the past six months. We are talking about the scouts residing in Brazil and our main scout who came to attend the games. As a result, we have a complete and detailed picture of Tete.
- How long did the negotiations last?
- The process was very long. We held the negotiations for about two months. The main reason is that Gremio did not want to let him go. They felt that in the future this footballer could cost a lot of money. On our part, we also understood: as soon as he plays for the senior team, his value can be several times higher. We talked for a long time about numbers and other issues. The main condition of Gremio was the resale interest. They saw that the player is very talented and promising, they saw his level, therefore our contract has a 15% resale clause. It was really difficult because initially, Gremio didn’t want to hold any negotiations at all. They didn’t want to sell him.
- What is Tete’s value? What is the clausula?
- We bought Tete for 15 million euros. 10 million received from the sale of Rakits’kyy, plus we added part of the transfer fee for Fred - and invested it in the acquisition of a young talented footballer. We believe that he’s our future, that Tete will grow into a big star. As for the clausula or compensation, today we’ve set our record amount - 150 million euros.
- In different interviews, Tete compared himself to Pele. Who of Shakhtar’s former and current Brazilians does Tete resemble playing style wise?
- I think there is no specific answer of the kind. It seems to me that he’s a kind of mix of Marlos, Costa, Willian ... Tete is a very technical guy. In Brazil, they call him a hurricane - this means that he brings confusion into the opposition defence, being extremely difficult to stop. He has some serious technique, shooting and passing.
- Does Shakhtar take Tete for the position of Marlos?
- He can play in many roles: on the right, as the number 10, and on the left. He’s a versatile player.
- How do you see the future of Tete at Shakhtar in a few years?
- I’ve already said that we are about to form the new Shakhtar. I’m sure that in two years’ time, he will shine. Of course, we must understand and treat the young guys with indulgence: at age 19, it is difficult to come and discover everything for yourself. It takes some time. There will definitely be mistakes, but it’s important to have patience. We are confident in the future of Tete. We’ll be working!