Brazilian side Santos, who yesterday sold playmaker Diego to Porto, have revealed that they offered to match the salary offered by the Portuguese club.
President of Santos Marcelo Teixeira claimed that the Sao Paulo side would do whatever necessary in order to keep the talented playmaker at the club. However, the 19-year-old preferred to leave, in order to further his career.
“From the moment you have a player, I won’t say unhappy as that was never the case with him [Diego], but who wants to go to a new club, you can’t change their mind,” said Texeira.
“The effort was made, but we weren’t successful, due to the players mind being made up.”
But, despite Texeira’s claim, Diego denied that Santos offered to match his Porto deal.
“They weren’t the same… Santos did what they could but no offer was like Porto’s,” he claimed. ” According to my father [Diego’s agent], it would have been difficult to find another like Porto’s, and the business was good for everyone.”
