Assuncao brought in
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Brazilian Assuncao signs a one-year old
Brazilian defensive midfiled veteran,
Paulo Assuncao, has been brought in as new manager, Robert Prosine?ki’s, first signing since re-joining the club. The talented 33 year old was courted by many clubs, but chose to go to the Serbian giants, signing a contract in the late hours of last night. The deal was confirmed today, and a press conference is scheduled to be held this week.
Assuncao was born in
Várzea Grande, Mato Grosso in
Brazil in January 1980. By the time he was 18, he caught the eye of Brazilian First Division side,
Palmeiras, whose youth academy he joined, and played for until he was 19. However, with an apparent lack of first team chances, he made a move to
FC Porto on a free deal. He spent the next few seasons on loan at various clubs, including Palmeiras, his former employers. He was finally given a first team chance for Porto in the 05/06 season. He excelled for them, and became a main stay in their team, providing solid cover for the clubs defense. He formed a formidable midfield partnership alongside
Raul Meireles and
Lucho González, who were key in Porto winning three consecutive league titles. As his contract came to an end however, Porto chose not to renew it, and he chose to sign a contract instead for
Atletico Madrid.
At the Spanish club, he enjoyed great success, despite him being in his early 30s, he made a great contribution to the side, helping them to consistently qualify for the Champions League. For 2 and a half seasons, he held his role as the undisputed starter in the holding midfield, before the club chose to buy
Mario Suarez who replaced him in the starting lineup. This greatly reduced the amount of game time he got, but he still played a part in helping them win the Europa League. He decided not to renew his contract, in order to pursue first team football back in his home nation, as he signed a one year deal with
Sao Paulo. However, his time there was not that successful, with injuries plaguing him during this time, and by the end of the December, Assuncao had enough, mutually terminating his contract, and moving back to Spain to play for
Deportivo for the rest of the season.
In an exclusive interview, Assuncao told the press how happy he was about joining Red Star, and he said that the project Prosine?ki was trying to build here was something which was very exciting, and something he wanted to be part of. The manager himself is reportedly very happy with the deal, as he hopes the Brazilian will provide leadership to this fairly young squad, and covering the position that former captain
Nenad Milijaš is expected to leave when he departs the club, after he was placed on the transfer list. This was only the first interaction we have seen from Prosine?ki in this transfer market, and we will wait to see how else he plans to strengthen the squad before the start of the season.