On 1 July, two players returned to Palmeiras: Pedrão and Dudu.
As of August of last year, 24-year-old Pedrão was on loan to Nacional da Ilha da Madeira and a starter in 30 out of 34 games in the Portuguese League. The island club publicly announced they would acquire the defender, but the deal didn’t go through and with coach Abel’s blessing, Pedrão was reintegrated into the Palmeiras squad.
Dudu needs no introduction. After a season at Al-Duhail of Qatar, Palmeiras’ main player in recent years is back.
Both players would a priori be available to Abel only in August, with the reopening of the international transfer window. However, Palmeiras’ legal department acted quickly, contacting FIFA with a request to anticipate the players’ enrollment, convincingly arguing that the pandemic had impacted the calendar and thrown the club’s initial planning askew. FIFA promptly agreed. This means Palmeiras can use Dudu and Padrão in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores, where the Big Green play Chilean side Universidad Católica on the 14th and 21st of July. And well as in the Brasileirão, of course.
Fingers itching to express just a bit of the excitement Dudu’s return provokes, but we better keep our cool.
Scoppia che la vittoria è nostra!
ANYTHING PALMEIRAS 