President explains why he vetoed West Brom transfer – Doing the club a favour

Flamengo president Luiz Eduardo Baptista has explained why a move for West Bromwich Albion winger Mikey Johnston ultimately collapsed.

Journalist Venê Casagrande covers comments from Bap today made in an interview with Flamengo TV, in which he detailed what went wrong with the move for the West Brom man.

Johnston appeared all set for a surprise move to the Brazilian club this week as reports last week indicated a deal was progressing quickly.

He was reportedly identified as a target by Flamengo’s technical director, who has watched him in Portugal when he played for Vitoria Guimaraes.

Reports explained that he was a fan and wanted to take him to Flamengo this summer as he looks to bolster their squad.

The deal was progressing, and all seemed to be going to plan but the deal ended up collapsing this week when Bap personally vetoed the deal for the West Brom winger.

That certainly raised eyebrows, with some reports explaining that Flamengo had instead turned their attention elsewhere to options that they considered to be better. Now Bap has had his say and explained his side of the situation.

” So, people ask, ‘But how does a medical evaluation ruin or ruin a signing?’ Guys, you’re evaluating 40 athletes, you don’t do a medical evaluation of 40; it’s a funnel,” he said.

“So when would you do the medical exam? Only in the final stages do you look at this part; it doesn’t make sense to evaluate a huge number of players. The process is designed this way.

“I’m not a doctor, I don’t understand sports medicine, although I can give an opinion. When you ask a professional, they won’t answer technically whether the player is good or bad. What they’ll say is: ‘Look, this athlete is physically sound; he hasn’t had any physical problems in the last three years.’

“Why not? Because the medical report from the club there says he’s fit to play. Playing 1,800 minutes a year. How many have you played this year? 900. So, am I going to bring in a player to play 900 minutes when I still have to play 4,000? These are choices you have to make.

“It’s not against the athlete; it’s in favour of Flamengo. He may be a great athlete, a great professional, but for Flamengo’s needs, at this moment, in my opinion, he wasn’t ideal.”