Rafinha wants to know again. After a short but successful interlude in his home country, the FC Bayern legend is drawn to Europe again. His change is not only for sporting reasons.
- A triple winner of FC Bayern * is drawn to Europe to Greece.
- Ex-FCB player Rafinha is surprisingly switching to Olympiacos Piraeus with immediate effect.
- His departure from his home country is not only for sporting reasons.
Munich - He was already drawn from Curitiba to Gelsenkirchen, from there to Genoa via Munich back to his home country in Rio de Janeiro. But whoever thinks that Rafinha's thirst for adventure has already been satisfied at the age of 34, was taught otherwise by Friday at the latest. “Raffa” wants to know again and is changing from the Brazilian first division club Flamengo to Europe to Olympiacos Piraeus with immediate effect .
Rafinha is moving to Olympiacos Piraeus with immediate effect
That was confirmed by Flamengo's Vice President Marcos Braz on Friday. "Rafinha received an offer from a Greek club and told us that he would accept the offer," he says. Actually, after all the successful years at FC Bayern with the triple success from 2013, the victory of the Club World Cup, seven championships and four cup wins , Rafinha wanted to end his career in Brazil. But after just one season at Flamengo, in which he won the Brazilian championship and the Copa Libertadores, the temptation to play again in Europe is too great. Of course, the financial side should also have played a role - according to information from Agence France-Presse (AFP) , Olympiacos is said to offer Rafinha three times the salary.
Even if Rafinha rose to the fan favorite during his time at Bayern and may be named in a squad with the successful Brazilians Giovane Elber, Lucio, Dante, Ze Roberto or Luiz Gustavo at the German record champions - his departure from the Reds was accompanied by background noise. According to Rafinha, this is mainly due to an ex-coach of the Reds.
Rafinha's move to Olympiakos isn't just for sporting reasons
His contract with Flamengo was dated until 2021, but a clause in his contract allows him to move abroad free of charge. In Piraeus , it is initially planned until 2022. But his departure from his home country also has another background. It is well known that Brazil is one of the countries that has been hardest hit by the corona pandemic . With over three million infections and more than 100,000 corona deaths , the situation is dramatic. The worrying situation is said to have moved Rafinha to consider moving to Europe.
In Brazil, meanwhile, league operations have resumed despite the pandemic that is still spreading. In the first two league games, however, Flamengo suffered two defeats under the leadership of Pep Guardiola's former assistant Domenèc Torrent. (kus) * tz.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.