Midfielder Manuel Fernandes, 36, currently at Apollon Smyrnis, in Greece, confessed in an interview with the portal ‘Osbructed View’ that he forced his departure from Benfica in 2007 and that he trained in secret at Everton.
«I trained for a week at Everton but I shouldn’t have been there because I was a Benfica player and I was no longer on loan [ao Everton]. The club could have had big problems. It was a secret, they even closed training so that no one would find out I was there until the situation was resolved. I went against the club that gave me everything because I wanted to play at Everton”, he recalled, also assuming that at that time he deliberately missed a game in the qualifying phase for the Champions League, against Copenhagen, so that he would not be prevented from playing for Everton. in UEFA competitions. «They were not pleased at Benfica, but I had to force the situation.»
That summer, Manuel Fernandes would, however, end up signing for Valencia.
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