Porto seal Quaresma deal
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Article summary
Ricardo Quaresma has signed a five-year deal with FC Porto, who have also confirmed Giourkas Seitaridis's arrival.
Article body
Sporting graduate
Quaresma, the 20-year-old product of the Sporting Clube de Portugal academy confirmed his move to the Estádio do Dragão today as his international team-mate Deco made the move in the other direction to Barcelona. The clubs have not confirmed whether the two moves were part of the same deal.
Back home
"I am very happy to be at FC Porto and to return to Portugal," said Quaresma as he was presented to the media. "I am looking forward to the future and to achieving something important at the club. Choosing FC Porto was very easy as the club had faith in my abilities."
Barcelona move
Quaresma made his Portuguese league debut against Porto as an 18-year-old and won a league title and a Portuguese Cup with Sporting in his first full season, 2001/02. The winger moved to Barcelona last summer but has returned home to Portugal just one year into a four-year contract at the Camp Nou.
Perfect match
Porto chairman Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa said: "After Deco moved to Barcelona I was told that Ricardo Quaresma had changed his mind about the possibility of returning to Portugal. Since then, we thought that he would be a good player for us. Quaresma fits perfectly into our coach Luigi del Neri's plans following Deco's departure."
Seitaridis switch
