In the summer window, Nottingham Forest signed Jota Silva from Vitória de Guimarães, securing a four-year contract.
The attacking midfielder made two substitute appearances in the league and scored in the Reds’ EFL Cup defeat to Newcastle United.
The president of Vitória de Guimarães, António Miguel Cardoso, reported in Desportivo O Joga about the sale of the 25-year-old to Nottingham Forest.
He did not go into details of the fee his side received from the player’s sale to the English club. The paper claims it is around €7m plus €5m in bonuses, but Vitória appear to have paid a portion to the player’s former clubs and two payments to agents, with Cardoso refusing to specify exactly how much money they will be left with.
The club president has revealed that the Portugal international turned down better financial offers from elsewhere to join Nuna Espírito Santo’s side.
He did not give details but said these clubs were from “emerging markets”. He wasn’t convinced and stuck with Nottingham Forest.
“For sure, several clubs were interested. We had another offer that was higher, but we have to be aware of what the player wants,” he said.
“If a player dreams of going to the Premier League, if a player doesn’t want to go to developing markets like these offers were, or fringe markets, we have to be sensitive to that.
“Could Vitória lose money because of the player’s wishes? It happens a lot in football. We often don’t realize it, but we get offers from clubs where players don’t want to go.
“This is their career. And in this house we managed to put together a club that wanted Jota, a league that wanted Jota, salary figures for Jota that I even think are lower than other proposals, but this one had goal.”
The chairman’s admission makes it clear that Jota Silva has been pushing for a move to Nottingham Forest to fulfill his dream of playing in the Premier League.
Jota Silva entered the final year of his contract at Vitória de Guimarães when he was sold to the Reds. Cardoso insists the player assured them he would not go out in the open.