Rodrigo Ely trained yesterday with his new teammates, later Almería made his entry official and today he was presented as a new rojiblanco player in the provisional press room of the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos by the general manager of the Almería club, Mohamed El Assy. “I am here to help Almería achieve the goal of promotion, which they have been so close to for the last two years. I’ll give everything I have and a little more.”, affirmed the Italian-Brazilian center-back, who signs until the end of June with two more optional seasons. At 28 years old, Ely will wear the number ’19’ and seeks to contribute his experience (82 games in the First Division, with Alavés) to the team from Indál in the final stretch of the competition.
Despite training with Nottingham Forest in February, he has not competed since November 2020 when he tore the cruciate ligament in his left knee. But Rubi only has Babic for the back line, so everything indicates that the new signing will debut in the starting lineup against Lugo next Saturday (18:15). “I am ready to play when the coach thinks it is necessary. The group, the coach and all the staff have received me in a great way. It seems that I have been here for months. That is also a virtue of this group. All my thanks to them because they are making it easy for me,” he said.
“The central position has evolved a lot in recent years. I like to be active on the brand, have good readings of the game, go out playing well and have the leadership that I have always taken in my natural way.. You try to be as complete as possible to grow and help the team achieve its goals”, explained the defender, who claimed to know Babec. “I knew him because I like to watch football. I am willing to grow with him and that we can have a good end to the season”, commented the central defender, who points to being a key player in the last twelve days. “My teammates have told me that in the Second Division you can lose or win with everyone, it is very intense, but it’s football, competing and staying focused. The future will be seen, the important thing is the games now and the objective. We must focus on the present, “he concluded.
Ely ‘crossed the pond’ in February 2010, joining Milan after previously wearing the Gremio shirt. The red-and-blacks loaned him out to Reggina, Varese and Avelino to cut his teeth in the Italian second division, before making his debut in the top flight in August 2015 in a Fiorentina 2-0 Milan game. In January 2017, Alavés obtained his loan, staying in Vitoria until last year when he exercised the purchase option in the summer of 2017 for almost three million euros. He left the albiazul team in July 2021 after his contract expired, signing with Nottingham Forest, where he did not make his debutterminating his contract last January.