Portuguese club kept Luuk de Jong’s move under wraps, stunning their fans and making André Villas-Boas happy
T
ransfer news spreads like wildfire in this day and age. Leaks have become not only common but expected, by clubs, journalists and agents. So when Porto unveiled Luuk de Jong, it stunned the football world. Not even employees and teammates knew until moments before his presentation at a friendly against Atlético Madrid. So how did they pull it off?
What unfolded was a story with the intrigue of a spy thriller. The striker was the last to board the plane he took from the Netherlands to Porto last Sunday and timed his arrival on matchday to avoid crossing paths with anyone. Upon landing, he was the first off the plane and ushered into a van with tinted windows that drove him to the stadium. His entourage – anonymous to fans – collected his luggage.
In the van the club’s social media team were secretly gathering footage. “It’s quite strange,” De Jong told them. “In these times, with so much social media, to keep something like this a secret … It’s going to be a big surprise. Let’s hope we can keep it quiet until the presentation.”
