The truths of João Pedro. A little over a year after his farewell to Cagliari, the Italian-Brazilian striker, now at Grêmio in Brazil after leaving the rossoblù for Fenerbahçe in the summer of 2022, talks about the reasons that led him to leave after relegation from Venice.
"It was difficult to leave Cagliari," he said in today's episode of the "Il Cagliari in Diretta" program on Radiolina, answering questions from journalists Valentina Caruso, Fabiano Gaggini and Alberto Masu. "The silence was the reflection of the complex choice to leave after so long: Cagliari is part not only of my career but of my life, they have been eight very beautiful years and it is the place where my son was born and raised". For him, in rossoblù, 86 goals in 271 appearances between 2014 and 2022, the captain's armband, three years in a row in double figures and a call-up with Italy.
Captain's greeting. João Pedro had greeted the fans on July 22, 2022, exactly two months after the sportingly dramatic evening of Venice's relegation, with a letter published in the Unione Sarda at the time of his move to Fenerbahçe. To those who, after more than a year, dispute his silence immediately after the race, Penzo explains: «I was ready to do it, but due to an internal dynamic they didn't let me speak. I was the captain and the face of the club: sometimes it's better not to say anything than to speak just to do it". After a year in Turkey, with some physical problems and just four league goals, he returned to his homeland: for a month he has been at Grêmio, the Porto Alegre club third in the Brasileirão. «There has never been the possibility of returning to Cagliari in the summer, I didn't want to leave Turkey on principle as I didn't show who I am. But the desire to return to Brazil prevailed: I'm getting old, I liked getting closer to my family». Even from a distance João Pedro always follows Cagliari: «I was playing at the same time in the evening in Bari, when I went out the first thing I did was look at the phone. I didn't want to believe it when I read the result and the way: I heard everyone, I'm happy for Pavoletti who deserves it. And I'm confident for Cagliari-Udinese: Ranieri will be able to put things right again».
