Felipe Melo ends his contract with Fluminense and is free on the market

Monday was busy at Fluminense. In a press conference, president Mário Bittencourt announced the end of the cycle of midfielder Felipe Melo. At 41 years old, his contract will not be renewed. At the press conference, the director also announced that coach Mano Menezes had his contract renewed until the end of 2025

“Football is made of cycles. The Libertadores champion team began to be assembled in 2021 and was extremely victorious. But obviously the cycle wears out and I think the year made that very clear. From 2023 to 2024 we have more veteran players and younger people. The objective is to strengthen the physical point of view without giving up technical quality”, commented the director.

Regarding Felipe Melo, 41 years old, the tone was one of gratitude for the time the player wore the Fluminense shirt. “I have a lot of gratitude for him and that’s why we communicated in a transparent way that, as an athlete, we were no longer interested,” he stated. Hired in December 2021 after being released by Palmeiras, he stayed at Laranjeiras for three years.

But if the midfielder is leaving, Mano Menezes remains at the head of the professional team. The option to continue the work was defined after a round of negotiations with the technician’s staff. Hired in July to take the Laranjeiras team out of the last places, the commander managed to achieve his objective by avoiding relegation to Series B. Still at risk of falling in the last round, the team defeated Palmeiras at Allianz by 1-0 and ended the competition in 13th place, with 46 points.

“We worked all week. Mano had personal issues, routine exams. He had to go to São Paulo to take care of that. We started working on Wednesday to assemble and evaluate the cast”, stated the director when commenting on the stay of the trainer.

With a 53% success rate during this period, Mano won 11 wins, seven draws and suffered seven defeats. The board’s expectation is that, by starting the season and taking care of football planning, the Gaucho coach can make the club fight for the title next year.

CLUB SEEKS INVESTOR AND ADMITS TO BECOME SAF

“We don’t have an investor yet, the BTG bank continues to advise, but at the last meeting, we ordered the bank to look for investors, to seek to buy control. Let’s think about what’s best for Fluminense”, said the director, who concluded.

“We understood that we had to open the range. We authorized the bank, BTG, to also look for investors who are interested in buying control. This will be the best for Fluminense. We will prioritize Fluminense’s interest”, he emphasized.

Bittencourt also explained that steps need to be completed before Fluminense becomes SAF. “When we put the SAF process to a vote, it does not go through the deliberative or director. Obviously, for reasons of transparency, it is displayed. But the vote to transform into SAF goes through a General Assembly, just as it was in the other clubs. When the team is doing poorly on the field, many things are invented. Who will decide whether Fluminense will become SAF, is not the board, it is the contributing members.”

He also made himself available to continue with a position at the club if that is the wish of a future investor. Fluminense’s expectation is that proposals may emerge from 2025.

“If the investor thinks that I deserve it and have the conditions for being here for 25 years, I may accept it, what’s the harm in that? As happened at Fortaleza, as happened at Atlético-MG. It is important for the fans to know that this decision does not It’s mine. I feel completely capable of being CEO of Fluminense or any other club. I manage it with mistakes and successes, but in my opinion I have improved the club a lot. My personal interests have never been at the forefront of Fluminense and they won’t be”, scored.

Finally, he was clear in stating that Banco BTG works to advise the club and is not seen as a possible investor. “I have always been clear, direct, objective, that BTG will not put a penny here because BTG will not be the investor. He will be our financial advisor to look for an investor.”