Antonio Carlos Santos slams América’s transfer dealings: “They made mistakes”

Former América player Antonio Carlos Santos has once again questioned the Coapa club’s transfer policy in recent years and believes that they have only hit the mark with one incorporation - Argentinian midfielder Rubens Sambueza. “Apart from him, players have been brought in that simply don’t have the prestige or influenece that a club as big as América demands,” the 59-year-old Brazilian argued. “I think that there are the examples such as Roger Martínez, who was obviously very grateful when he left but who they kept on board even though he didn’t contribute much. So something has gone wrong when it comes to signing players”.

In conversation with AS México, Santos stressed that: “The way América goes about signing players is a joke. They buy badly. As soon as a player stands out in Mexican soccer, they sign him immediately, without consideration. They’ve just signed [Julián] Quiñones, and the same thing happened with Valdez, with Fidalgo... with several others. For years, they have not brought a player that has stood out - part from Sambueza,” he added.

Where is América getting it wrong when reinforcing the squad?

“It’s not that they don’t get it right - they sign players who stand out in Mexican soccer. It’s just that they will sign anyone. América is like Santos’ youth academy and it seems that [club chairman] Emilio [Azcárraga] doesn’t talk much with his team, he doesn’t give the younger players who are coming through confidence. That has an effect on development, those players’ formation is increasingly truncated because there is no trust. Making the top four is now the goal, but before it was finishing first or second. Every year we talk about América failures and now we’ve been there for five years”.

So you think Quiñones’ arrival is a bad idea?

“I have not agreed with their transfer policy for the last eight years. I have nothing personal against anyone - now they have brought in Quiñones to reinforce the attack; they think he will be the solution, but I don’t think he is. That’s how it has happened in many so many of their signings. One example is Cabecita Rodríguez, who was superb for Cruz Azul, was a champion there, went to Saudi Arabia where he didn’t do much and they brought him back as a major signing... that’s the problem with Mexican soccer, because now managers believe that whoever they bring in will always succeed in Mexico. But you can see how many Brazilian and Argentine players stand out”.

What did you make of André Soares Jardine’s debut on the América bench?

“It’s too early to talk about André's arrival, because he’s only had a few days with the team. He suffered his first defeat, without having all of his players available - but then the same thing happened in the last four tournaments. Right now, I think we have to give him time to find his feet and work with the team. Jardine did a good job at San Luis. It’s been many years since Jorge Vieira’s time, but I think he can do well. I thought he would bring in Brazilian reinforcements, but he already brought in a Colombian [Quiñones] so we’ll wait and see. Perhaps they think of him as the solution, but I don’t see it that way”.