Sassuolo, a team in the Serie A, declined an offer from Spartak Moscow to purchase Brazilian left back Rogerio due to ethical concerns, according to Giovanni Carnevali, the club’s general manager and CEO.
Rogerio, who returned to Sassuolo in August 2017 after playing for Juventus’ reserve squad, has played in almost 150 Serie A matches for the club.
“(It’s) very true. The negotiation was done by his attorney, there was a very important proposal of 8 million euros ($8.87 million),” Carnevali told La Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published on Sunday.
“Considering everything, we decided not to proceed as owners and management. Ethical reasons, we did not want to do a deal with the Russians.”
European competitions have banned Russian clubs because of their invasion of Ukraine, which Russia refers to as a “special military operation”. Despite the fact that the Brazilian player’s contract is scheduled to end in 2024, Sassuolo declined to finalize the agreement.
“We wanted to make conscience prevail, not to do business with a certain country. And yes, at the cost of losing him for free,” Carnevali added.
“It’s not that Rogerio is no longer on the market. He is. But the choice was of a different nature, if offers should arrive from other clubs, we will evaluate them.”
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