After a viacrucis of injuries, the Brazilian defender Rodrigo Eli believes that he still has “a lot of football” in his boots and wants to return to his native country with the idea of recovering the good level he showed in the Milan and the Deportivo Alaves Spanish.
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“I’m still young, I have a lot of football to give at a high level. I want to play in the big leagues and compete in big competitions,” said the 28-year-old defender in a telematic interview with EFE.
He and, no team today After his fleeting passage through the Nottingham Forest English, reveals that he has some offers from Brazil, a country from which he left at the age of 16 to set course for a Milan galactic, where it coincided with Ronaldinho, Pirlo, Thiago Silva or beckham.
“I have that wish”
“I would like to try the experience of playing in Brazilian football. I have that desire to return,” said the center-back trained at the Guild of Porto Alegre.
With the flamingothe most popular team of Brazilhad contacts, as confirmed, although then they did not bear fruit.
The last year It hasn’t been easy for him. In December 2020 he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a fortuitous action and had to undergo surgery.
There were long months of sick leave that were also combined with the negotiations for his renewal with the Alaveswith whom he came to play the 2017 Copa del Rey final against Barcelona from Leo Messi.
‘I was willing to go on’
“There was a time when I was ready to go on, but they told me that the club was in financial trouble. Time passed and, the truth, I decided to take other paths because everything has an end, “he sentenced.
And there were four and a half seasons in the Basque albiazul team that ended in the closing of the transfer market last European summer.
Those “other paths” led him to the Nottingham Forest, of the Second Division of England. Fresh from his serious injury, he wanted to start again from the bottom, in a strong league like the English one, which makes the most of the physical section.
But luck did not smile on him either. “I arrived on the last day of the transfer window. I was injured and I didn’t have time to train with Alavés, so we agreed that I would go through a pre-adaptation period of a month and a half,” he said.
“But the coach who brought me in left and they brought in another coach with another job idea more focused on young English players,” he added.
Finding himself out of the project, he sat down with the club and they decided to end their relationship last January. He and he did not even make his debut with the ‘reds’.
“I want to play”
“We agreed that the best thing for me was to look for alternatives because I feel ready and I want to play football. I’ve been all this time without playing and I want to get on the field,” he declared with enthusiasm.
He assures that he is “100%” recovered from his ailments and that he feels “prepared for new challenges”, without closing the doors to a possible return to Spanish football.
“I have the desire to be able to return to my country, but if there is an interesting project in Spain, obviously I will put it on the scale, that is clear”, he pointed out He andwho also has Italian nationality.
He played in the lower categories of Brazil and Italy
In fact, he played in the lower categories for both Brazillike Italyalthough he has not debuted in the absolute of any of the two.
He was called up for several times with the Brazilian Olympic team during the preparation phase for the 2016 Rio Games, which unfortunately he missed due to injury, he remarked.
Now, with new horizons ahead, He and dreams of the call from the Canarinha coach, Tite.
“We have to dream. We work to reach the highest possible level. If I have continuity and do my job in a club, why not?” he expressed.
“Get to know the feeling of wearing the Brazilian Olympic team jersey and it is something that one always wants to conquer,” he added.
