Sporting CP announced today the transfer of Anilton César ‘Pany’ Varela de Silva (born in Tarrafal on 25-02-1989) to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. The Portuguese international has signed a three-year contract, during which he will earn 300,000 euros annually. Sporting will receive 250,000 euros for the sale of the 2022 World Player of the Year. While this deal is economically advantageous, given that Pany Varela is 35 years old, it poses a significant challenge for coach Nuno Díaz, who loses one of his key players. Sporting’s futsal general manager, Rodrigo País de Almeida, has been unsuccessfully searching for a high-caliber replacement for weeks.
the search
The search initially focused on Russia, where Sporting targeted Joao Guilherme from Gazprom Ugra. However, they were too late, as the Brazilian player with an Armenian passport had already committed to the Communist Party, which also repatriated Niyazov. Another ongoing negotiation for Sporting is for Valerio Chimba, the league champion and the best player in the Russian Super League.
Chimba is interested in joining Sporting, but Gazprom is unwilling to sell their star, and Sporting cannot afford to spend much more after signing pivot Allan Guilherme from Braga for 60,000 euros and transferring Hugo Neves. The search for Pany Varela’s replacement has been highly selective, with Sporting now looking to Spain, but they continue to face refusals. Palma Futsal, due to Sporting’s interest, pointed to the 200,000-euro release clause for Cleber Souza, whom both general manager José Tirado and coach Antonio Vadillo consider non-transferable after renewing his contract until 2028.
The latest attempt by Sporting was with Felipe Valerio, but ElPozo Murcia Costa Cálida’s response was similar to the previous ones. General manager Fran Serrejón has no intention of letting go of his captain. Who is entering his seventh season with the club, despite his contract expiring in 2025. Sporting finds itself in a difficult situation and might have to wait until the winter transfer window to make moves in Brazil. Last January, they signed Tatinho. A versatile winger from Corinthians, who could potentially switch from the left to the right wing to fill the void left by Pany and keep Russian center Anton Sokolov on the squad by playing him on the wing.
Marco Falcone 
Ivan Fanucci