CSKA is perhaps the only big Russian club that is really worried at the start of the new season. The team, which needed to be strengthened last season, has only weakened so far. But in recent days there have been positive signs. CSKA is working on several possible newcomers at once, so now the club needs to complete all the deals, and head coach Vladimir Fedotov has to integrate the players into the team.
One of those newcomers could soon be Clermont left-back Neto Borges. According to our information, CSKA set their sights on the Brazilian, and he is ready to move to Russia. At the moment, the management of the Moscow club is negotiating with the player’s agent. The problem may be an argument with Clermont himself. The French want 5 million euros for Borges, and CSKA, since the player has one year left on his contract, is not willing to pay more than 3 million euros.
Although Borges is not at CSKA yet, we can get to know him better now. This is a football player with an interesting fate.
CSKA is simultaneously working on the transfer of the striker. Here are the details:
CSKA makes a transfer under sanctions. They want the best player in the American Champions League!
Borges almost lost his career due to money problems
A classic story for Brazilian players. Neto was born into a poor family in a small town with a population of 50 thousand people, so his destiny lies in overcoming. Every day, from the age of 10 to 14, the boy had to go to train in Salvador, the capital of the state of Bahia, which was an hour and a half by car from his house. These trips cost the family dearly, and one day they had to be stopped.
“One day my mother told me that we can no longer afford these trips,” Borges said in an interview with the French league press service last year. – At that time it was hard for me, because I had to give up my dream. I came back home and played at a very low level for a small club in my hometown for four years.”
Neto Borges at the beginning of his career
Photo: Mats Andersson/Getty Images
The fateful moment in Borges’s life came when he was 18 years old. A family friend named Marcelo, who worked as an agent, suggested that the boy go to play in Sergipe, a small state in northern Brazil. Neto and his parents understood that this was not the most tempting option, but, according to the footballer, he still had nothing to lose, so he agreed.
In Sergipe, the events began to unfold according to, as Borges says, a “slightly crazy” scenario. Within a year, he played for three different teams: Boca Junior (not to be confused with Boca Juniors), Itabayana and Turabao. He didn’t expect this, of course. At the time, Neto had only played in Serie D, Brazil’s fourth division. But at the end of 2017 the opportunity to go to Europe presented itself, which the player did not miss.
“The agent we work with to this day contacted me first and told me about the option of moving to Hammarby,” Borges said. “A few days later I went to Sweden for a physical, then I went back to Brazil to celebrate the New Year and at the beginning of January I joined a new team.”
At first, Borges did not know how to defend himself at all. But in the end the dream came true.
It is not uncommon for players to start playing one position and then switch roles. Borges himself spoke in more detail:
– A couple of years ago I would have said that I could play exclusively in attack. But now my game is much more balanced: I know how to defend and, at the same time, I can connect forward at the right moment. In my youth, I played as a winger or top ten. Then in Vitoria, when I was 14 years old, the coach lowered me to the full-back position. They always told me: “No, you must learn to defend yourself!”. So I had to study.
It so happened that Borges has become one of those players who often change teams. He spent only one year at Hammarby. Then there was a transfer to the Belgian “Genk” for 2 million euros, which was a record sale for the Swedish club at that time. But even there, Neto did not linger. According to the footballer himself, it was difficult for him to switch to the defensive role.
“In Belgium, that’s why it didn’t go very well for me,” Borges said. “This is a league with great wingers, so the full-backs have a lot of defensive work. Back then it was still in development and I had to go through a lot of changes. You had to defend a lot and at the same time not forget about the attack. But now I’m a full-fledged cornerback.”
For three years, Borges had two leases: to his homeland in Vasco da Gama and in the Portuguese Tondela. The second trip turned out to be especially productive. In the 2021/2022 season, Neto played 35 games (a total of more than 2,500 minutes) and scored 3+5 goals+ass.
The contract with Genk was coming to an end and Borges had the opportunity to take a new step in his career. And this step was, in fact, the realization of a dream. In the summer of 2022, the Brazilian went to Clermont, a French Ligue 1 club.
Net Borges in Clermont
Photo: Panoramic/ZUMA/TASS
“I knew about Ligue 1, but I hadn’t heard practically anything about the city, so I started looking for information on the Internet,” Neto recalled. — I was impressed by the club’s project and the way it works. Everyone knows what the French championship is, and every footballer dreams of playing in one of the five major European leagues.
I also always wanted to play in one of the big leagues. But, despite these dreams, he did not believe and told me that it was impossible. I played in the Brazilian little leagues and had no idea that one day I could make it to Europe. It was just a dream, but now I play in France. My story shows that you should always strive for more.”
Brazilian soccer players play in large numbers around the world, so it is generally accepted that, unlike the same Argentines, everything is fine to adapt to the new conditions. But Neto admitted that this is not an easy process for him and that he does not like constant changes.
“It’s never easy! Borges said. – In France, once again I had to learn a new language, learn a new culture. My wife and I discussed this and came to the conclusion that we want to find a place that will become a real home for us. I’m a little tired of being an “outsider”. I want to be able to make long-term plans. I still don’t know what kind of place it will be, but my family and I need stability. Our son is six months old and this is not the best time to move every year.”
A Russian soccer player now plays in France:
Exclusive
“We couldn’t wait any longer.” Exclusive details of Kuzyaev’s transfer to France
In any case, the move to Clermont was a great decision for Borges. The team that finished the previous season in 17th place rocketed to eighth place and found itself close to the likes of Monaco and Lyon. For Neto, the season was also significant: 34 games, 2,924 minutes on the field (a record for his entire career), three goals and three assists.
What kind of soccer player is this?
A small characteristic for Borges. The defender is 26 years old and, for a cornerback, he is unusually tall: 185 cm, in this sense, Neto is good at heading and fighting for the ball. Also, Borges, who is typical of Brazilians, is quite technical and knows how to dribble.
Of course, there are also disadvantages. The main drawback is discipline. Last season, Neto twice left Clermont in the minority: in a lost game against Lorient, he received a second yellow card at the start of the second half, and in a game against Angers he got a direct red card just before the break, but Clermont kept the winning score.
In the last season of the French championship, Borges played an important role for Clermont, and the statistics confirm it:
Neto is third on the team in successful attempts to pass the ball into the opponent’s box (69), fourth in forward passes given (100) and first in received (189).
Based on the characteristics, Borges vaguely resembles Mario Fernández. So it is possible that CSKA found a new Brazilian under the guard, although not on the right wing, but on the left. It remains only to figure out the transfer itself.
Mario suddenly got into a correspondence skirmish with CSKA:
“I did my best to come back to CSKA.” Powerful massacre of Mario and the army club
