Medvedev, president of Zenit, mocks Marcos Braz: “That’s Claudinho…”

O vice president of football of Flamengo made a mistake by confusing Alexander Medvedevpresident of Zenith, with the former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev when asked about Claudinho, athlete that Flamengo is interested in repatriating for this season. The episode took place on Wednesday (18), after the draw for the Copa do Brasil matches at the CBF headquarters.

“One thing I wanted to make clear is that the person we are talking to is the former president of Russia. There is a political aspect, a sporting aspect, and they don’t want to sell the player. There have been situations like this at Flamengo. They don’t want to sell Claudinho.”replied the Flamengo director when asked about the athlete.

Upon learning about the case, the Russian club’s director mocked the situation involving Marcos Braz: “In Brazil, I was mistaken for Dmitri Medvedev? This situation just makes you think: is this the Claudinho they want to buy?”, in an interview given to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

The Rio de Janeiro club’s interest in Claudinho is long-standing. However, the Russian team is playing hardball and Medvedev (Zenit’s director) has already made it clear that “Claudinho is not going anywhere”. The midfielder was revealed by Corinthians and went through clubs until he found himself in Red Bull Bragantino. He was sold to Zenit for 12 million euros (R$ 76 million) and has a contract until 2027. Last season, Claudinho scored five goals and provided nine assists in 42 matches played.