Flamengo drop bid to re-sign Rafinha, citing Covid hit
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian champions Flamengo said on Saturday they were dropping negotiations to re-sign star defender Rafinha, saying the financial hit of the coronavirus pandemic had made the prospective deal “unviable.”
Flamengo had reportedly been in talks since November to bring back Rafinha, who left the Rio de Janeiro club to sign with Greek side Olympiakos in August last year.
But in the latest sign of the turmoil Covid-19 has wrought on football, Flamengo, Brazil’s richest club, said the talks had stalled because of money issues it blamed on the pandemic.
“Rafinha, besides being an excellent player and one of those responsible for the club’s unforgettable conquests in 2019 and 2020, is one of those people we would all like to have on our team,” the club said in a statement.
However, “due to the worsening of the pandemic and the resulting financial uncertainty it has caused, reaching a prospective contract with him... proved unviable,” it added.
“Any such investment at this time would be incompatible with the current administration’s financial responsibility .... Unfortunately, the pandemic and its impact prevented this much-hoped-for return.”
Rafinha, 35, has also spent stints with Bayern Munich, Schalke and Genoa, winning seven Bundesliga titles and the 2013 Champions League with Bayern.
Capped four times by Brazil, he helped win Flamengo the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian league titles in 2019.