How to explain the following two statements, both allegedly made by Luis Fabiano within the last month?
June 27th: “There would be no point in me joining Tottenham, I might as well stay at Sevilla, it’s the same thing.
“Sevilla are actually bigger when you look at how much we have been in the European Cup, so there would be no point me moving to a smaller team.”
July 16th: “I must admit it’s only in the last few weeks I have understood just how big Spurs’ ambition is.”
Hmmm.
An explanation for the naive: Luis Fabiano has sat down, read all about Spurs’ history online and noticing that they are a club on the up.
An explanation for the more cynical: It has become apparent that United and Milan have no interest in such a deal, and accordingly Luis Fabiano has to reconsider his options.
An explanation for the even-more-cynical: The origins of these two apposite quotes are (1) The Daily Star on Sunday and (2) The Sun. The Spanish only report the first quotes as coming via England, and the second quotes are yet to appear in the Spanish press at all. Portuguese-language outlets don’t carry the stories at all.
And something that needed to be ignored in all this? The bit where Luis Fabiano’s agent said that he was happy in Spain and they were in the middle of contract negotiations for an extension, as explained on local radio in Seville.
El representante de Luis Fabiano, José Fuentes, dejó claro en Punto Radio Sevilla que “la única propuesta que llegó fue el año pasado del Milán. El está en el escaparate, pero sólo hay rumores. No tiene ansiedad ninguna por irse. Si tiene que llegar una oferta, llegará, si no, pues seguirá tan feliz y alegre en Sevilla”.
[...] “El Milán sabe que si lo quieren tienen que llamar a José Fuentes y al Sevilla, al igual que pasaría con el Manchester”.
Fuentes insistió en que “si se queda, lo hará feliz y alegre. Si se va lo hará para irse a un grande de verdad, de los que solo hay cinco o seis equipos en el mundo”. Sin embargo, la renovación de su contrato sigue parada, y el representante de ‘O Fabuloso’ lo explicaba. “Esa idea de ampliar el contrato vino del Sevilla, nosotros le contestamos con lo que queríamos (algo accesible para ellos) pero a día de hoy aún no han contestado”, sentenció.
Translation - The representative of Luis Fabiano, Jose Fuentes, made clear on Punto Radio Sevilla that “the only offer that was made was the one from Milan last year. He is in the shop window, but there are only rumors. He has no anxiety to leave. If an offer has to arrive it will arrive, if not, then he will continue so happy and joyful in Seville. “
[...] “Milan know that if they want him they have to call Jose Fuentes and Sevilla, as would happen with Manchester.”
Fuentes insisted that “if he stays, it will make him happy and cheerful. If he goes it will have to be to go to a really big club, of which there are only five or six teams in the world. ” However, the renewal of his contract continues to stall, and the representative of ‘O Fabuloso’ explained. “The idea of extending the contract came from Sevilla, we reply with what we would like (something feasible to them) but up to now they have not responded,” he said.
Now, that sounds to us more like an encouragement to Seville to get the contract sorted out on improved terms because he’ll be happy that way, with a nod to the possibility of other deals to keep the club on their toes. But it’s barely a nod - half-hearted and not really the point of Fuentes’ message. Mind you, if you move things around, forget convenient bits and mistranslate, you come up with this Sun story:
Make your move for Fab, Fergie
Luis Fabiano’s agent has told Manchester United: It is time to make your move.
[...] Jose Fuentes said: “We have not received any offers from Manchester United or Milan.
“The only offer we have received is a contract extension from Sevilla. The rest are just rumours and speculation.
“We will analyse Sevilla’s offer in the coming days but we are not in a hurry.”
And with scrupulous translation efforts like that, you can decide how seriously to take the Luis Fabiano rumours doing the rounds in the British press this summer.
