"I didn't say anything about it": The saga of Varela continues

Just wants to play football: Cardoso Varela. IMAGO/Sports Press Photo

At least since Sepp Herberger, it has been known that "a game lasts 90 minutes." But how long does a transfer saga actually last? Well, in the case of Cardoso Varela, one should not expect a quick end. The talent, who was hastily shipped to Croatia in the summer of 2024, is now officially registered with Dinamo Zagreb . But the path of the now 16-year-old to the Croatian serial champions was so convoluted that FIFA will almost certainly take up the matter again - not least because Varela's former club, FC Porto , will exhaust its legal options with the world association.

First, a brief summary of the background: After his contract with Porto expired, two agents wanted to place Varela with Croatian fourth division club NK Dinamo Odranski Obrez because his father had found work in Zagreb and claimed that his son had been subjected to psychological terror in Porto and that he himself had been threatened. This was contradicted by Porto's president André Villas-Boas , who suspected shady dealings behind the trip to the Balkans. The former top coach said that Varela junior had explained to him that he would like to stay in Porto but was afraid of his uncle, Wilson Sardinha. This is one of the two agents who brought the then 15-year-old to Croatia.

Kicker research, in any case, tends to support Villas-Boas' assumption. The father's Croatian employer - and with regard to FIFA transfer statutes, the job issue is quite important - is Branimir Majdak, a friend, perhaps even an employee of the player's agent Andy Bara . He is known for so-called bridge transfers in which the training club ends up largely empty-handed.

After Varela could not be registered with the fourth division club for months, Dinamo Zagreb stepped in, a club that the associations could not say no to. According to the statutes, 16-year-olds are allowed to move within the EU if the new club can offer training at the highest level and a good school education. These are key building blocks for allowing transfers of minors.

However, there are all sorts of questionable things that concern this background story in particular and could come back to haunt the players' agents involved. For example, there is a post by Varela on the social network Instagram on February 16, the day his transfer became official. "@fc porto serei sempre grato a esse clube maravilhoso e obrigado por tudo," he wrote. In English: "@fc porto I will always be grateful to this wonderful club and thank you for everything." A thank you to the former club that, according to Varela's father, terrorized the boy? That raises questions.

Now the father could point to the boy's mother, Rosaria Mandume, who lives in Luanda, Angola. Last summer, when it came to registering with Odranski Obrez, she confirmed the father's allegations in a letter. But: kicker has access to correspondence between the mother and an employee of FC Porto, and it concerns the letter mentioned.

I did not say anything that is written there.

Rosaria Mandume, mother of the player

Porto employee: "Is it true that you signed this document?"

Mother: "Maybe I signed it, but maybe it was written in English, but I don't remember signing it. Because the documents that are given to me are written in English, and I don't speak English."

Porto employee: "But did you read the part that is in Portuguese?"

Mother: "Yes, I did!!! But I didn't say anything that was written there."

Porto employee: "Ok, thank you. This is very serious."

Mother: "I'm doing everything I can to be there, don't do anything without me being there, because this is really very serious."

Porto employee: "We are on your side."

Mother: "Thank you for being by my side."

This, like the boy's post, gives the impression that the accusations against FC Porto are completely fabricated by the father and the agents involved, against whom the club has made further accusations. A complaint to FIFA shows that a few weeks after Odranski Obrez's registration failed for the second time in October, a player agent from the Middle East contacted FC Porto and demanded 1.5 million euros for the boy on behalf of Sardinha and Bara. He could then return to Porto. Bara's agency Niagara Sports did not respond to a request for comment.

Advisor Bara recently gave an interview in Croatian media in which he stuck to the version spread by the father that Porto was exerting pressure. Bara then brought Croatia into play and Majdak's company because Varela senior had previously worked in the relevant industry. Astonishing. Because the correspondence surrounding the failed registration attempts at Odranski Obrez reveals two things that do not fit with this version at all: firstly, that Varela senior had already worked in a beach bar in the Croatian bathing paradise of Zadar before being employed by Majdak. Secondly, FIFA has determined that the father has not played an active role in the boy's life since 2021, when he moved to London for work. Clearing up these contradictions could indeed take longer than 90 minutes.