To speak of Paulo Futre (28-2-1966, Montijo, Portugal) is to refer to an important piece of the history of Atlético de Madrid. His 16 years as a footballer, in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Japan, and then his journey as sports director at the rojiblanco club has given many anecdotes.
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Do you consider that you are one of the best players in Atlético’s history?
I think so. It is true that Atleti could not win the League with me in the team, first because we ran into Madrid from the Quinta del Buitre, a historic team, then came the Cruyff ‘Dream Team’ and as a third factor, the lack of patience of Jesús Gil in his early years; I wanted to win the League in September and if we lost two games in a row, it was chaos, instead of cheering us up, we were in a total crisis. But I have the satisfaction that the Copa del Rey final that we beat Madrid at the Bernabéu brought me as much joy as when I was European champion in Vienna with Porto.
Tell us about your return to Atlético as a player in 1997. In the presentation of that squad the star signings were Juninho and Vieri and they were in the background because the fans cheered on you.
The truth is that it was a surreal situation. I had retired in December 1996 and started working as a club ambassador between January and February 97. I was also going to see the training of the great Radomir Antic, may he rest in peace. One day, in a game on Thursdays, in the Calderón, I was on the bench and the coach came to me and told me that I had to help him out, that he should dress short because he was missing one in the reserve team . I was puzzled, I had not trained for months and smoked on top. I told the comrades that I was not going to move and that it did not occur to them to say anything to me. But I don’t know what happened that in 20 minutes I scored one or two goals, I also gave a couple of assists, people started clapping … Already in the locker room, Antic told me that he had to play again and I told him that if he had gone crazy, that the next day I was not going to be able to move by the knee. I had turned 31 years old. And when I got out of the shower, the delegate Carlos Peña came with the mobile: he was the president to ask me what I had ‘set up’ and that I had to play again. So I started training progressively, the right knee, which had given me so many problems, responded and in the preseason I joined the first team. But the funniest thing is that I continued to accompany Miguel Ángel (Gil) as ambassador, in fact, I was in the negotiations for the signings of Juninho and Vieri, with whom, curiously, I later shared costumes. And the presentation of the team was incredible, with all the fans cheering me on, it was one of the most exciting days of my life, the culmination of a very beautiful and surreal story at the same time.
“It was surreal how I returned to play for Atleti in 1997. I had retired, I was no longer training, I smoked …”
In 2000, after hanging up his boots, he returned to Atlético as sports director at a very difficult time, with the team in relegation positions to Segunda B. How was that new return to the club?
I remember that the team lost, I think, that against the University of Las Palmas, President Jesús Gil said that phrase that there would be no ship or plane for the players to return, that they would have to do it by swimming, and days later he called me to lend him a hand, he had to come back to help him, already from the office. Everyone in my inner circle told me I was crazy. The only one who told me to accept was my father, because a friend had asked me for help. I only put two conditions on Jesús Gil, who would go down to the locker room when I told him, that the players had to be encouraged, not scold, and that he didn’t speak to the press until we were promoted. It cost him, but he did both. It was a great adventure. We must also remember that the club was intervened and there was not a euro to sign unless we sold. Thanks, for example, to the good relations that I had with Berlusconi came players on loan from Milan. Now, 20 years later, I see the club and I’m glad that the situation has changed so much …
After leaving Atleti for the first time, he signed for Benfica and then for Marseille. There he received an important offer from Real Madrid. Why was the contract broken?
It must be put in context that I arrived in Marseille, which had a great team, months after the corruption scandal with President Tapie broke out. They told us that we had to leave because the club could disappear. And then a manager from Real Madrid called me, they wanted to sign me. My ego went up. I warned that person to speak to President Jesús Gil because when I left Atlético at Benfica they put a very high anti-Madrid and Barça clause, which I still kept in Marseille. I called Jesús Gil, who had already made peace with Mendoza, and he told me that he was free to decide. Then, Real Madrid and Marseille reached an agreement. But when I had the contract on the table to sign it, after several days of negotiations, I went to the bathroom, my children, who were young, came after me and before doing my needs I looked at them and thought ‘how am I going to play in Madrid having done it at Atleti? ‘. At that moment I kept my ego, I left, I did not sign, I asked for forgiveness and I left. They were very pissed off because I left them standing, but I did what I should. Curiously, after saying no to Madrid I signed for Reggiana, last classified in Serie A.
Do you think that your football would have made the Bernabéu enjoy?
–“In order to return to Atlético as sports director, I put two conditions on Jesús Gil. It cost him, but he complied”
When I was champion of Europe in 1987, you know that Atleti signed me, but later I found out that Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and Barça also bid for me, which I think had already spoken in Vienna with the president of Porto Pinto gives Thing, but he never told me. There were meetings, but there was no offer. They only asked me psychological questions like: ‘If you go a week without seeing your mother, how do you feel?’ One day I got fed up and asked, I don’t know if a manager from Madrid, that if they always asked so many questions of that type when they hired foreigners, they said no, and then I replied that why with me yes, and they answered that because it was Portuguese and they thought that the Portuguese were mentally fragile; in fact they gave me examples of high-quality players from my country who had not triumphed abroad. Atleti was really the only club that took the final step to sign me.
Did he hang up his boots feeling he deserved the Golden Ball Gullit won?
Gullit had done well at Ajax and Milan signed him in the summer of 1987. That year I had been European champion with Porto and I also went to Atlético that summer. I knew that he had an advantage and that he should keep it until November when the voting began. The fight was between Gullit, Butragueño and me. But there was a journalist from my country who voted in favor of Gullit. I think there was cheating. In the voting there have always been strange things: votes have been changed, others did not appear, journalists who voted but did not exist … One day, while at Milan, I was about to ask Berlusconi what he had done to make Gullit win and not me, but I had no courage.
You were the first Portuguese to play in Italy, England and Japan, what did you learn from those Leagues?
The Japan thing was a unique adventure. I think I went to a cinema there for the first time in a long time, since I was in Porto. I couldn’t go outside, I learned to live at home. In Milan I tried it with my children, I put on a cap and dark glasses … but with freedom, the first time was in Japan. At Yokohama Flügels I had Rexach coach, with the Cruyff system, and it was a great experience. In England I played very little, due to knee problems, but what I liked is the great respect in the locker room and that football was easier for the great players, because the markings were not as intense. And from Italy, I have great memories of when I arrived in the city, at Reggio Emilia, with an incredible atmosphere, but after debuting and scoring I got injured, and I had to have knee surgery; I was no longer the same.
–“I didn’t have the courage to ask Berlusconi what he did to make Gullit win the Ballon d’Or and not me”
How was that story about you working in a mechanical workshop when you started to excel in soccer?
I was a normal student and a pretty naughty and rebellious boy. Football was already asking me for more sacrifices in the lower categories of Sporting de Portugal and I started going to school less. So my father put me to work in my cousin’s João’s workshop. From nine to two or two thirty. I showered in the same workshop and took the boat that took two hours to take me to Lisbon, where I trained at the José Alvalade stadium, from where I returned to my house around eleven and in the morning again to the workshop. Thus, two years until when I was 15 they made me a professional contract at Sporting. From then on, I stayed at the club residence, where I spent five days a week. In the morning I trained with the first team and in the afternoon with mine.
What similarities and differences are there between Luis Aragonés and Simeone?
I have not seen a talk by Simeone, either individually or collectively, but it certainly resembles the ones given by Luis, who lived soccer with the same intensity that Cholo does. Surely Simeone has many things about ‘El Sabio’, which was a great motivator, said by great Spanish stars when they were with him in the National Team and in the different clubs he coached.
How extreme were you, what do you think of Dembélé beyond the price that was paid?
–“I worked two years in a workshop until Sporting de Portugal made me a professional contract with 15 years”
It seems like a crack to me, but when the mess that he was late was over, I remembered that I was a rebel like him and that thanks to Isabel, the mother of my children, I was able to have balance and be more focused and grow as a footballer. You need a partner to give you stability.
What advice would you give Griezmann so that he could succeed at Barça or at least play at a better level without disturbing Messi’s status as team leader?
Look, before signing I said that I could not reach the levels of affection in Barcelona that I could have had at Atlético, like me for example. At Barça, whatever he does, the covers and the spotlights will always be for Messi.
You are a reference for many soccer players and fans. But what has been Futre’s great youth idol?
I have already said that I trained at Sporting Portugal, but my idol was Chalana, who curiously played in the rival, at Benfica. He was impressive, he was a genius. Later, I fell in love with the Italian Bruno Conti in the World Cup in Spain; in fact, I always wanted to go to Rome for him. But above them was always Maradona.
–“João Félix has shown that he is a crack, and whoever says otherwise is with bad intention. When he takes the ball it is different, and the fans know it”
João Félix has already shown that he is a great player, but when is he going to fully explode?
João Félix has shown that he is a crack, and whoever says the opposite is with bad intention, as when he was blamed for the defeat and the elimination against the Cultural Leonesa in the Cup, after the four genius passes he gave to his teammates, that they were not correct in front of the goal. He may have had a bad game, he has been injured, but with the pressure he has for what he has been paid for at only 19 years old, he has done more in his first season than I did when I came to Atlético at 21 years old. I talk to him a lot and I take that pressure off him, to focus on playing and continuing to demonstrate what a phenomenon he is. When you catch the ball, you can see that he is a different player and the fans know it.
What are your future plans when the new normal returns after the coronavirus crisis?
I am in Portugal, where I have been working on television for years, I collaborate in various newspapers and whenever they ask me for advice on the subject of transfers due to the number of contacts I have.
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