Fernando dos Santos, from Shakhtar Donetsk, signs for Salzburg

The leader of the Austrian league and current champion, RB Salzburg, announced this Thursday that it has hired Brazilian striker Fernando, from the Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk, for more than five years, until June 2027.

“Fernando dos Santos Pedro arrives at FC Red Bull Salzburg from UEFA Champions League regular Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine,” the Austrian club said in a statement posted on its official website.

He added that the 23-year-old Latin American soccer player comes directly from Brazil, where he has been training individually in recent weeks due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Thanks to an agreement with Shakhtar on the terms of his departure,” the 23-year-old Latin American soccer player will immediately join the club’s training sessions, although he will not start playing until next season, the note states.

The contract signed by Fernando with Salzburg runs until June 30, 2027.

The forward arrived at Shakhtar in the summer of 2018 and a year later he was loaned to Sporting de Portugal, where he played for half a year before returning to Ukraine.

“With the speed of lightning”, Fernando has scored a total of 12 goals in 69 games for Shakhtar (including two goals in the Champions League), who are two-time champions of Ukraine (2018/19, 2019/20) and the Cup (2018/19), recalls the club in its statement.

Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund said the club has been “intensely following” the Brazilian footballer’s career for some time.

“His way of playing football fits perfectly with our philosophy, as he offers a lot of aggressiveness and rhythm,” Freund highlights in the note.

“Also, he has proven himself by playing and scoring at the highest level in the Champions League. We are happy to have landed a player that we really wanted.”

For his part, Fernando said he was “delighted” with his new signing.

“The last few months have not been easy for me, which makes me want to get to work here even more (…) I am sure that I will soon find a place for myself in this young team and contribute to its success next year. is coming,” declared the 1.76 meter attacker.