Is Danilo Pereira about to break with FC Porto?
The conflict between FC Porto midfielder Danilo Pereira and club coach Sergio Conceiçao is heating up – perhaps too much this time to calm the waves.
According to French media reports citing Portuguese sources, Pereira left the club’s training camp prematurely, following FC Porto’s 2-1 victory over Getafe last week. While the club in a statement cited “personal reasons” for the midfielder’s departure, the real reason is to be found in another dispute between Pereira and Conceiçao.
Last week, coach Sergio Conceiçao reportedly arrived late at a team dinner at a hotel, angering Pereira who asked the coach to justify his delay. The situation escalated and a fight broke out between the two in front of the entire team and hotel staff. Danilo Pereira was subsequently asked to leave the camp and is now preparing for upcoming matches on his own at Oilval training center.
And the conflict is far from resolved. Following what Pereira described as insults from the coach – in which he called into doubt the midfielder’s role as FC Porto’s team captain and reportedly referring to him as a “[expletive] captain”– Pereira is threatening to relinquish his position. According to Portuguese newspaper 'DN', even pressure from FC Porto’s president, Pinto da Costa, to “forget the matter and resume the status of captain” has not helped to change Pereira’s emotions.
Although the FC Porto managed is in full damage control mode, confirming that an altercation between the player and coach took place but describing the dispute as “perfectly normal”, it seems likely that a bridge has been burned. A source close to the player confirmed that after this incident, Pereira’s confidence in the coach is now “hopelessly broken.”
An altercation with such repercussions suggests that the relationship between the star midfielder and the FC Porto coach has been souring for some time – and may even have pushed both beyond the point of no return.
Indeed, the falling confidence and growing tensions between the two may have informed the increasing interest by international clubs in snatching Pereira away from Porto. Last year, Manchester United and Arsenal were rumored to have an eye on the player, after their scouts were spotted at various matches. It has also been reported that AS Monaco submitted a bid for Pereira, although this remains thus far unconfirmed by the club.