Futre’s lie and the pre-contract that revolutionized the football world

directed by David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas and produced by Pitch Productions ‘The Figo case: The signature of the century’ Documentary is a movie try to list the chronology of the signature and provide more details about the Portuguese’s decision Replacing Barça’s azulgrana jacket with the white jacket of its eternal rival.

In the 104-minute track, which premiered on the Netflix platform this Thursday, some people who have experienced the signature give their own versions. From the player who made the final decision; Florentino Pérez, one of the sign’s ideologues, former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart, Figo’s best friend in the Barça dressing room Pep Guardiola and Jorge Valdano and others.

However, as the documentary makes clear, they two citizens Figo -Paulo Futre and José Veiga- those who are strategists of a transaction This has made Luis Figo in the white jersey an ‘unwelcome person’ for Camp Nou fans, who have blasted against the Portuguese on consecutive stadium visits.

A friend of Figo’s representative, Futre was the first to show interest in the signing of Florentino Pérez, who was then running for Real Madrid president, the Barcelona captain, who was in negotiations for numerous improvements to his contract.

As the former Atletico player explains in the documentary, He called Veiga in the presence of Florentino Pérez to explain Real Madrid’s interest in the Portuguese star. The representative hung up in disbelief. And Futre still pretended to talk to his friend.

“Those 30 or 40 seconds where I pretended to talk to Jose Veiga to think of something to say. They were the key to the whole operation.He defends Futre, adding that he and Florentino Pérez agreed on a commission of “six million euros” to be shared by him and his friend if the transfer is successful.

A growing seed Jose Veiga signs preliminary contract with Real Madrid candidate. “I told Jose to talk to whoever he needed to talk to,” recalls Figo, who refused to sign the preliminary agreement.

Here’s a version the agent solved: “There was a pre-contract, yes. I’m signing. Figo could not sign (…) Luis Figo never saw that contract, Florentino never had a copy. There was only one version. Before signing, I called Luis Figo and read the entire contract. I asked Luis: Can I sign it? And Luis told me I could sign it.”

But as the movie recalls, the Portuguese international swayed the Barcelona media that same summer with statements showing his love for the Barça club. “This is my shirt and it will be,” he said of his vacation in Sardinia in an interview with Diario Sport shortly before his signing for Real Madrid became official.

It was then that the Veiga-Futre duo flew to the Italian island to persuade the football player. Reason: Penalty requirement of 5,000 million pesetas (30 million Euros) if the operation fails.

However, in the documentary Florentino Pérez validity of this contract: “It was a motivating clause, nothing more. Figo never signed (preliminary contract), so a contract that Veiga and I signed can be considered a statement of intent”.

In Sardinia, transfer agents convinced Figo to take the plane to Lisbon, and Florentino Pérez convinced him to say yes to Real Madrid.

According to Gaspart, the soap opera, He made a final call from Portugal to the newly elected Barcelona president, asking for a bank guarantee of “500 million pesetas”. To ensure his continuity in Barcelona. Some facts that the hero denies in the documentary. “It’s a lie,” he says.

Finally, Figo signed a contract with Real Madrid, which a few days later will pay the 60 million termination clause to officially include the football player.

A decision that the former Barça club player does not regret. This is how he defends it in the documentary. explores the ins and outs of a job signing ie before and after in the football industry.