The Sunday People are today running an interview with QPR goalkeeper which claims that he was close to joining Arsenal but at the last minute he changed his mind and joined QPR. This is interesting to me for one main reason – the fact that many fans get angry at Arsenal for what they perceive to be a lack of movement in the transfer window. What this interview highlights is that there are far more factors in play than simply identifying a target and signing him and also that when a player pulls out at the last minute it leaves a club with very little left that they can do.
Cesar said the reason he chose QPR over Arsenal was that he was thinking about his future after he finished playing football and that he ‘could’ become a director at QPR. That is ‘could’ in the sense that he sees no reason why he couldn’t, not ‘could’ as in it has been promised.
It wasn’t about the money. Obviously.
Cesar told the Sunday People
I accepted this [QPR] proposal because I wanted to live in London. I have an amazing way of life here and I’m giving my family a great opportunity to grow up culturally.
I talked with Arsenal in the last transfer window and they were really happyabout me playing for them, but at the last minute I moved to QPR.
QPR has a project, and I dream about that project coming true. But I came here because I was thinking about my future once I quit football, that’s true. The directors have signed 11 footballers, and when you put them all into a team, it will be difficult for that team to work immediately.
That’s why QPR haven’t won yet. We don’t have an identity yet. But let me tell you we are on the right track. The fact that I can speak Portuguese, Italian and now English will give me opportunities in the future to be a director once I quit football. Even at QPR I could work as a director.
