The president of Palmeiras, Leila Pereira, and striker Dudu, a historical idol of the Alviverde club and currently at Cruzeiro, exchanged barbs this Monday (13). The duel began when the manager stated that the player left the São Paulo team through the back door.
When asked about the situation of Rony, who did not agree to leave the São Paulo team and transfer to Fluminense, the representative said that the number 10’s cycle in the team had come to an end and that it would be good for him to “have a new lease of life”, but rejected any comparison with Dudu’s recent departure. According to her, the former number 7 of the Alviverde team caused “millions in damage” to the club and “left through the back door”.
In the middle of the 2024 season, Palmeiras accepted an offer of US$5 million (R$30.5 million at current prices) from Cruzeiro for the striker, which had already been agreed verbally with the team from Minas Gerais.
The agreement between the parties was announced by the clubs themselves. Dudu, however, backed down, declined the deal and only left the São Paulo team at the end of the year, which left the team without any financial compensation.
After the episode in the middle of the year, the atmosphere for him at the São Paulo club was never the same. There was no longer any trust from the board regarding the athlete’s commitment, from whom the initiative to negotiate with Cruzeiro came, just as the player no longer felt respect from the board regarding his story.
“You saw that, in the middle of the year, when I said that the end of the cycle was underway, right? I was right. So, we waited until the end of the year for the athlete to leave without Palmeiras gaining absolutely anything “, said Leila. “It caused losses of millions for Palmeiras. Millions!”, complained the manager this Monday.
Shortly afterwards, Dudu responded to the comment on social media. On his Instagram, he posted a photo next to the cups he won for the club and wrote: “The truck was heavy, and they told me to get out through the back door!”
In the same image, he added an insult to Leila Pereira, tagging the president of Palmeiras in the publication. “My story was huge and sincere, different from yours @leilapereira. Forget me. VTNC”, he added, with the acronym commonly used on the internet for “you’re going to take it in the c…”.
The striker left Palmeiras with 88 goals scored, 462 matches played and 12 trophies lifted. Over ten years, the relationship had only one hiatus, between 2020 and 2021, when he was loaned to Al Duhail, from Qatar.
