Flu Loses Players as Well.

By: Mauro | July 16th, 2008

While most of us South Americans love to see our squads do very well in the local leagues, as well as in the continental cups, we all know that only calls attention to our very inexpensive and talented players from European teams. So much so that while we are still riding the high of a championship or championship caliber performance, our team is taken apart right under our noses.

This is the case with Fluminense. A few days ago, right side defender Gabriel was transferred to Panathinaikos for a $1.3 million fee, and now his teammate, Cícero Santos is following in his footsteps.

Cícero is packing his bags for his new gig at Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga. At only 23 years old, Cícero impressed with his ability to adapt to his team’s needs. In this Copa Libertadores, he played as a forward/striker up front with Washington, he played further back in tandem with Thiago Neves and even further back as a midfielder when he had to cover Ygor’s position early on in this competition, due to injuries. Fluminense transferred Cícero for $1,3 million dollars. A steal.

While this is Cícero’s first experience abroad, this is the second time overseas for Gabriel. He had a prior stint with Málaga of Spain while Luiz Alberto, rumored to be joining Gabriel in the Greek Super League, will be playing for his third club in Europe. He had prior spells with Saint-Étienne in France and Real Sociedad in Spain on two occasions.

It’s been rumored that Flu stands to lose most of it’s starting line up as many teams on the continent as well as European teams are interested in each and every one of the players on the squad. Except for Washington, who at 33 years old will most likely remain with the club since he’s not interested in playing elsewhere. Even 34 year old Dodó looks like he might head to Atlético Mineiro.

The following players have offers from European clubs: Back-up keeper, Ricardo Berna, defenders Junior Cesar and Thiago Silva, midfielders Arouca and Thiago Neves. Lucky for Fluminense, they will not be playing the Copa Sudamericana and can focus on giving their young players some much needed time to get used to some first team football.

Keep an eye on this blog for any further developments and be sure to visit the CONMEBOL website for more info on the upcoming Copa Sudamericana.