Browse Month: September 2018

Richarlison admits he nearly gave up on becoming a professional footballer

Everton’s summer signing Richarlison has admitted that he nearly gave up on the dream of becoming a professional career. In an interview with AS, the Toffees frontman discussed the hardships faced during the initial stages of his career and admitted that he would have not made to the big stage, had he failed with his ultimate trial with America Mineiro.

Speaking to the Spanish publication, he said: “I haven’t got enough fingers to count the number of clubs who rejected me. I was ready to give up football, but I lifted my head and I went to Belo Horizonte with just the money for an outward ticket for the last trial I had, with America MG. If I didn’t make it, I had no money to get home to Espiritu Santo, 600 kilometres away. I gave my all that morning and I passed. If I had given up after the first no I would never have made it where I am today.”
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Marcel Brands insists Yerry Mina only wanted to join Everton

Everton director of football Marcel Brands has stressed that Yerry Mina had no second thoughts about joining the club during the summer. Towards the end of the transfer window, it had been suggested that the Toffees had beaten Manchester United to the central defender only because of the additional fees offered to the player’s agent and uncle but Brands has now dismissed the claims.

In a report covered by The Mail, he said: “It was really simple behind the scenes. I put the offer in and Barcelona asked for a totally different amount that we would never have paid. Then they said, ‘OK, we will wait until the end of the market’. We never changed our offer. That was a bit of gamble because everyone was writing about Man United [wanting Mina] and Barcelona used that, agents used that, everyone used it. The player said constantly to me, ‘I want to go to Everton’. That was a great thing for us but you never know if Manchester United come in and offer an extra £150,000 a week – every player would like that.”
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