“Yesterday they called me to offer me Ribéry. I didn’t even know he was still playing ”. The president of Ceara, a club in the northeast of Brazil playing in the national first division, Robinson de Castro, had a funny surprise this week, when he received a phone call offering him the services of… Franck Ribéry. At 38, the French striker is still running and is currently playing in Serie A with the red lantern Salernitana. But the Italian club, in great financial difficulty, planned to sell him this winter.
On the other side of the Alps, Ribéry still has playing time. In 12 Serie A games, he has distributed two assists and recovered the captain’s armband. But his leadership is not enough to keep Salernitana’s head above water: after 18 games, the club have only collected 8 points and are badly embarked on the race to maintain. The season might not even have gone to an end for the Garnets, since they were threatened by administrative relegation for lack of financial guarantees.
Only a last-minute takeover, at the end of December, by the Neapolitan entrepreneur Danilo Lervolino, saved the club. But the context must have forced the leaders to consider the departure of several players, including Ribéry therefore. Not sure however that the former captain of the Blues land in Brazil. “Are we going to try to recruit him?” I don’t know ”, evaded de Castro during the interview on this subject. Before joining Salerno, the French played for two years at Fiorentina, following his 12 years at Bayern Munich.