Vadym Rabinovich: I am not happy with the buzz around Cafu

20.02.2008 00:01

Arsenal Kyiv are again in the spotlight of football Ukraine attention. The club announced their interest in AC Milan Brazilian defender Marcos Evangelisto De Morales who is more known as Cafu. SE correspondent asked Arsenal honorary president Vadym Rabinovich about that.

- Your possible purchase of Cafu will surely be one of the loudest winter break transfers.

- I don’t want to talk too much about it now. Everything may happen. I am not happy with the buzz around Cafu and want to play it down. Information space is common and the more publicity the deal has the more we will have to pay for the player. I hope we can accomplish this transfer. It is important for Arsenal to get used for world stars of such level playing in Ukraine. Secondly, all our authorities, both Kyiv city administration and football ones should be ashamed that such player will come to the club that doesn’t even have a plot of land to build a stadium. So we will buy the best players and play on Kreschatyk.

- How far have you gone in buying the Brazilian?

- Currently I am abroad and do not deal much with it. A representative of Soccerworld agent company contacted me today and asked to send a letter to AC Milan and ask them to let Cafu come to Kyiv for negotiations. We sent such letter and will see what happens next.

- Does Cafu know about your interest in him?

- Of course.

- What was his reaction on the offer to move from Italy to Ukraine?

- I asked his agent who called the player and then said it was OK with him.

- Rumor has it Cafu will cost you about million and a half dollars.

- People don’t know what they are talking about. It is not some clandestine dealing. Frankly, I am not a big specialist in transfer deals so we assigned this operation to a well-known European company.

- Was it your idea to buy this player?

- No, it wasn’t my initiative, not even somebody’s from our club. The abovementioned company suggested us this transfer and we agreed. Cafu’s appearance in Arsenal can become a serious step in the club development.

- What was Zavarov’s reaction on this?

- Zavarov liked the idea.

- Doesn’t the player’s age put you off?

- Not at all. Recently Cafu played in AC Milan starting eleven against Parma. If his age is OK for Milan, it will be OK for Arsenal.


Vyacheslav Kulchitskiy, SE in Ukraine