Palmeiras Women ascend to the 1st division
Palmeiras Women yesterday beat Chapecoense 5-1, with 7-1 on the aggregate, to secure not only a spot in the semi-finals against São Paulo but, even more importantly, their participation in the 1st division of the 2020 Brazilian Women’s Championship. Congratulations!!!
Palmeiras have a perfect run so far in the tournament, with nine victories out of nine, and only a goal suffered. In the other semi-final, Grêmio and Cruzeiro battle it out.
— ooo —
Plenty of action on the transfer market during the last week of the Copa América break and the week that followed. And although Palmeiras brought in Ramires at the start of the break, latest developments have (almost) all been in the opposite direction. Short resume as follows:
Moisés to Shandong Luneng
After being one of the absolute highlights in Palmeiras’ triumphant 2016 Brasileirão campaign, the midfielder suffered a couple of knee injuries and has never reached the same level of excellence. Progressively losing space with Scolari, his exit is a good opportunity to open up space for Matheus Fernandes, signed earlier this season from Botafogo, and aforementioned Ramires. In addition, it makes a lot of sense financially: Moisés was signed in 2015 from Rijeka, Croatia, for € 800K and the 31-year-old is passed on to Shandong Luneng for € 5 million. At the Chinese club he will reunite with former Palmeiras striker Roger Guedes.
Moisés leaves with two Brasileirão titles for the Big Green, 138 games played and 12 goals scored. He also leaves having earned a tremendous amount of respect and gratitude for his professionalism, commitment and emotional ties to Palmeiras – emotional ties also expressed by his family, and in particular his young daughter.
From Anything Palmeiras to Moisés, the best of wishes for the future and a resounding THANK YOU.
Bahia and Fortaleza
After Arthur, now offensive midfielder Alejandro Guerra and centre-back Juninho have gone to Bahia, on loan, until the end of the season, while Felipe Pires is heading for Fortaleza. Pires arrived at Palmeiras in January, on loan from Hoffenheim, with an option to buy. After 16 games and a single goal scored, Palmeiras pass the forward on, having received the German club’s approval.
Vitor Hugo back at Palmeiras!
Palmeiras are repatriating central defender Vitor Hugo, at Fiorentina since 2017. The former Palmeiras athlete – instrumental in the 2015 Brazilian Cup title and the 2016 Brazilian Championship title – had offers from other European clubs (most prominent from Besiktas) but his desire to return to Brazil and Palmeiras outweighed all competition. Details about the signing are yet to be revealed, but we are likely talking a 5-year agreement, with Palmeiras paying some € 5.5 million euros to the Italians, in addition to a signing bonus to the athlete.
Palmeiras sold Vitor Hugo to Fiorentina in 2017 for € 8 million. Last season, he played 33 matches for the club that finished 16th in the Serie A.
— ooo —
Terror in Argentina
Saturday night, after the game against Ceará, the Palmeiras squad and staff headed straight for Argentina, where Godoy Cruz await tomorrow Tuesday. The plane was however unable to land in Mendoza due to unusually strong turbulence, forcing a reroute first to Rosario and then to Buenos Aires. Reportedly, some tense moments on-board, the Chapecoense tragedy still in fresh memory. Luckily, all ended well.
No telling if and how this incident will impact on tomorrow’s performance. One thing is certain: less time for practice and rest.
Scoppia che la vittoria è nostra!
ANYTHING PALMEIRAS 