″I said no a thousand times…″

Carlos Marchena, the former Benfica central defender, revealed this Tuesday that he did not like the way the move to the red club went, in 2000/01.

In 2000/01, Carlos Marchena was in Seville when he learned that he was moving to Benfica. Today, in an interview with the Spanish portal “Relevo”, the former Spanish central revealed that he felt cheated, because he did not like the way the operation was carried out.

“I didn’t want to leave. They told me they had to sell the players because there was no money to pay the electricity. I had a lot of offers. I was sitting with Milan, but Benfica arrived first and put money on the table. I got to the European Under-21 Championship and were relegated at 10 At night. My parents were waiting for me, I thought I was going home, but they told me I had to go to the club. Three gentlemen were waiting for me and told me I was sold and I asked: “What do you mean”, he began by saying that he had been threatened.

“I was very disappointed. The president was Roberto Alice, I hope he rests in peace. He was the president and my manager at the time, Rodríguez de Moya y Monchi. They told me he was sold to Benfica and that I had to go to Lisbon the next morning. I said no thousand Once and I was told a thousand times yes. I denied it again. There was a man who acted as an intermediary who threatened me. He told me if I didn’t go to Portugal, he would be worried because I wouldn’t even play in the third division. They sold me and I’m gone,” he revealed.

Then Carlos Marchena went to Benfica and moved the next season to Valencia, where he was in 2012. In 2018/19, the former defender returned to Sevilla as a consultant, and later to take over the club’s coaching position. Returning to his origins – from which he had left in the meantime because he did not identify with the project – he ran into Munshi again and showed his dissatisfaction with the process.

And he stressed, “I feel that I was deceived and told him. They sent me somewhere. Since then, the relationship has changed. But after that, the relationship must continue for the good of Seville.”