Brazilian in the TM interview
© Imago
On Tuesday evening (9 p.m./Prime Video) FC Bayern Munich will be guest in Cyprus at Pafos FC in the Champions League. The club is a still far blank on the European football stage, but has had a player in the ranks since the summer who has already left big footprints in world football: ex-cheeky and PSG star David Luiz. The 38-year-old spoke in advance of the duel with the German record champion at the transfer market about his Pafos Transfer, the development status of Cypriot football, his own role and visions in terms of future.
Bavaria and David Luiz, these have always been special games in the past: 57 times the Brazilian international hit the Munich in the course of his career, the winner was only determined twice in the penalty shootout. In 2012, the central defender was part of the Chelsea FC, who gave the FCB the most blackest day of club history in the “Finale Dahoam”. A year later, the Bundesliga club in the UEFA Supercup was at least being able to return. One thing is clear: the penalty shootout will not occur on Tuesday evening in the group game between the Munich and Pafos. And: If you put your money on David Luiz ‘new club in the run-up to the game, you should be a rich person in the event of a victory, FC Bayern has around 36 times the squad value of his opponent.
If you look at the ranking of the most valuable players in the ranks of Pafo FC, you also need a little longer for the name David Luiz. The defender, which was once estimated at his weddings at the blues and in Paris at 30 million euros, is today with a hundredth of this sum. Nevertheless, he is undoubtedly the greatest star of the club history since he moved from his home country from Fortaleza to Pafos in August – and thus caused a big surprise. “When the chance at Pafos FC came up, it felt right – a new challenge in a place full of energy and ambitions,” says David Luiz in an interview with a transfer market about the move back to Europe. Football is for him “passion and I still feel the fire in me to measure myself and give everything on the square.”
“I knew that the club was growing quickly since I got to know the owners Sergey and Roman. They have great ambitions and do great work. They made great progress in Cypriot and European football. When I spoke to the people here, I immediately felt their vision,” continued David Luiz.
Who is this Pafos FC exactly? Who do the Munich people deal with on Tuesday evening? Transfer market clarifies the carefully planned project!
David Luiz on Pafos Transfer: “I understand that I am a newcomer to star”
David Luiz fits the Cypriot anything but into the scheme. “Our main focus is on the identification of emerging talents and players who have not yet fully exploited their potential for one reason. We attach great importance to offering these players the right platform to restart or push their career again and at the same time strengthen our team with quality and ambition,” describes Pafos boss cout Rodolfo VAZ to TM’s transfer strategy. The case of David Luiz, on the other hand, was “something very special”. “I have known him since he came to Benfica as a very young player, and have followed his career carefully. Interestingly and more by chance, he and our CEO Roman Dubov have been in London since David’s time (at Chelsea; D. Red.). And his advisor has also been very close to our board. This summer the right prerequisites have finally arisen. “
But what is the goals of the aging world star in the eastern Mediterranean? “I understand that I am a newcomer to the club,” says David Luiz. “The expectations are high, but pressure has always been part of my career. I see it positively – it motivates me. I want to help the team and give my best for the club and the fans, the city and the whole country. As an experienced player, it is part of my responsibility to support the younger ones, especially my compatriots. We have many Brazilians in the club.
David Luiz 2012 after winning the Champions League with Chelsea in the Munich Allianz Arena.
David Luiz’s contract with Pafos is dated to 2027. The 38-year-old should not only bring a little shine into the squad, while the club is presenting itself on the very big European stage for the first time. In the first game in the premier class, the Champions League winner from 2012 was used for 33 minutes, in the end there was a draw against Olympiacos Piraeus and the first point in competition for Pafos. The old star sees both the club and Cyprus football in general.
This has experienced a strong update in recent years and “The teams are more represented in Europe. There is quality and great passion for fans. Pafos and other Cypriot teams have shown that they can keep up in Europe at a high level. This shows the progress and ambitions of football here. Luiz.
In the Champions League qualification, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dynamo Kyiv and Red Stern Belgrade were cleared out of the way. Although David Luiz & Co. go into the game as an absolute outsider on Tuesday, the team of coach Vincent Kompany is expecting an opponent who, despite the low squad value – 25.4 million to 905 million euros – may not be possible to stop by. At least one from the ranks of the eleven of coach Juan Carlos Carcedo knows how to defeat Bayern.
Text and interview: Thomas Deterding