There have not been many Portuguese goalkeepers who have played in the Spanish First Division. We could mention Damas (Racing), Vitor Baia (Barcelona), Nuno (Deportivo), Beto (Sevilla) or Ricardo Betis. But we are going to stop at Granada. Luis Maximino will be the third goalkeeper from the neighboring country to defend the Nasrid goal. The other two were Carlos Gomes and Rui Silva who, for one reason or another, did not leave anyone indifferent. We are going to briefly review its passage through Los Cármenes.
Carlos Gomes, rebel without a cause
To introduce a brushstroke on this singular goalkeeper, we will rescue a paragraph from an article written by Alfredo Relaño, today honorary president of As, about a Spain-Portugal match, October 1956, the first to be televised in Spain. Carlos Gomes was in that Portuguese team then in the Sporting from Portugal. “The base of his team was Sporting, of whose goalkeeper, Carlos Gomes, there was news here. A precocious star, he liked sports cars and ostentatious female companies, as Jesús Gil would say. He demanded permanent increases in his contract and was shameless with everything, even with the guards, which cost him a night in jail ”.
Indeed. He was quite a character. And the best way to refresh it is with this interesting part of a great article published in Cuadernos de Fútbol in 2011. Where he tells of his signing for Granada. “Granada paid a million pesetas. for his transfer and made him a contract at the rate of 250,000 per year, premiums apart. It could be a lesser fate for those who had just reaffirmed laurels in the 1957-58 Portuguese championship and shortly before had been wanted by Real Madrid and Barcelona. Of course, even so, its token tripled what was perceived next to the Tagus, and with half of that token it was possible to acquire a central and charming apartment. His farewell was elegant, according to what was written by Portuguese journalists: “I carry Sporting in my heart and when I return I will only be able to defend this club.” Time, you know, tends to wither words, even if they have been written. ” Tremendous. Piercing. We do not remove or add a comma.
Rui Silva, the award for work
The signing of Rui Silva by Granada on January 27, 2017 barely had media coverage. Only a brief official statement from the club and hidden notes in the press and little travel on the radios or the internet. However, this goalkeeper had something. Holder in the National of Madeira, he had already been an international under 19, under 20 and under 21. He came as third goalkeeper, after Ochoa and Javi Varas, to replace Oier Olazabal who was going to Levante. Signed until 2021. His path was different from that of Carlos Gomes. Rui Silva, constant and hard-working, was gaining presence until he managed to take over the position. Nobody moved him.
Offers came in, mostly from England. The club did not consider them and offered to renew. But he no longer wanted to because he had committed to Betis who made him an irrefutable proposal.
Luis Maximino, the future
After the great performance offered by Rui Silva, Granada decided on another goalkeeper from Portugal, young and from Sporting (like Carlos Gomes). On this occasion, it assumes a significant financial effort. He pays 4.5 million euros for his transfer, plus 500,000 if the team remains in First. His termination clause will be 25 million euros. Your club of origin saves 10% of a future transfer. Maxi, which is how he is called at the club, was followed by no less than Barcelona, who thought of him as a possible medium-term replacement for Ter Stegen.
