After Lazio and Sevilla, it’s now the turn of German side Hamburg to enter the race for São Paulo defender Rodrigo Caio, who was part of Brazil’s Olympic Gold medal winning squad.
According to the information from Brazilian journalist Bruno Andrade, representatives of the defender are in Germany to advance in negotiations with Hamburg. Champion of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Rodrigo Caio was also called up by Tite on Monday to represent the senior national team in the World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Colombia next month. The player was back at São Paulo’s training centre on the afternoon of Monday, and gave a press conference. Rodrigo Caio said: “I have a contract with São Paulo until 2018. Of course I have the dream of playing in Europe, so I always made it clear. But there’s nothing yet. It will be a joint decision with the board of São Paulo. All my focus is here. I didn’t get to talk directly with São Paulo about it, if there’s something on the table. The only thing we talked is that we’ll analyze when there’s something official. I have the dream of playing in Europe, further develop my game, but doesn’t depend only on me, it depends on São Paulo as well.”
Last year, Rodrigo arrived in Spain to complete a move to Valencia, but a deal collapsed after he failed his medical tests. He also negotiated with Atlético Madrid, but a transfer did not materialize because he wasn’t pleased with the conditions put forward. He added: “I kept confidence in my work to have a good championship and realize my dream, as I’ve done now. Today I see how important this decision was in my life. I believe that I’ve developed much during this one year over here. I’m a more experienced player, and believe that I have a lot of good things ahead.”
“It was a dream to play for São Paulo, graduating as a great player, learn from people with great experience, like Rogério Ceni, for example. It’s hard to talk about the future, but I believe God plans good things for me. It’s a special moment for me, the Olympic achievement, the call up, and if I’m leaving, then I will go out with my head held high. If I stay, I’ll stay with great pride in wearing this shirt.”