Sandro claims clubs treat players like pieces of meat after he ‘fails’ medical with Sporting Lisbon but medics give him all-clear
QPR's ex-Tottenham midfielder desperate to find a move after haggling Portuguese giants pull out of deal for the Brazilian
SANDRO takes a look at the medical report on his knee and gives it a little kiss.
It is his salvation after a summer where he was on the brink of returning to the Champions League but ended up with nothing.
Sandro’s story has left him feeling that European clubs like Sporting Lisbon treat players as pieces of meat and are ready to mess with their lives to save money.
The Portuguese club failed the Brazilian’s medical, then offered to sign him on less wages. But it is the medical document — as seen by SunSport — that gives the Queens Park Rangers midfielder hope.
He said: “Clubs can treat players like meat, they don’t treat people like a person. Football is this — the club treat you like a product.”
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Off the pitch, the 27-year-old had an amazing summer after getting married and celebrating in Portugal and Brazil.
But getting his transfer to Lisbon done was a nightmare and blows open the murky world of transfer dealings at the top level, when clubs go to extreme lengths to get the deal they want. It started for Sandro when he was on loan at West Brom last season.
Sporting made THREE offers to take the ex-Tottenham star, finally matching his salary demands.
He explained: “It was near my wedding in Portugal and I said ‘Yes’ both to the club and my wife!
"I was ready to sign but it wasn’t until one week before my wedding in Brazil that they said they were ready to sign.
“Why were they doing this to me? One week ago I had been in Portugal.
“I agreed to do it but had a feeling they were not expecting me to do the medical, as I arrived in the hospital and there was no kit to go on the treadmill to run.
“Players don’t need to bring their own kit for a medical!
“I ran with the hospital kit and it was fine. The second part was looking at my body as they need to check everything and this was amazing. They only checked my right knee.
“I knew I needed to do both knees, both ankles, check the hamstring, calves. I’m a product and must be fit.
“I said, ‘You don’t want to check my other knee?’ And they said it was fine but in my mind it wasn’t fine.
“The doctor said I had an inflammation in my patella but QPR knew this and so did Tottenham — it is normal for a player. The doctor said it was fine and that I could sign.”
But it became clear what Sporting were up to when Sandro answered a call from his agent.
He said: “The club were saying my knee was not OK. It all made sense to me. After ten minutes, my agent called me again and said they were offering half the salary with bonuses.
“The last thing my agent said was that you don’t want to go to a place like that.
“I was supposed to sign for four years so I said I would do it two years, no problem. I’ll show them. But they just wanted to halve the salary.
“It made sense to me. Why only check one knee and not the body unless you don’t want to buy me?”
It was a bitter blow as playing as a Brazilian in Lisbon is second only to Premier League football in Sandro’s eyes — and he has now been left in limbo.
He said: “In one moment I had to choose and I had to choose the Champions League. I was left with nothing.
“I felt very, very bad — very sad. How can a club do this to a player? It was a joke. They were trying to play with me and it is not fair.
“What they did was not just affecting me on that day, it affects me now — I couldn’t sign for West Brom or other clubs as they saw the news.
"QPR got players in so they have to sell me, they thought I was joining Sporting — everything was sorted.”
But at least other clubs will know Sandro’s knee is OK, as he went for independent tests to PROVE Sporting were wrong.
He said: “QPR saw the story when Sporting made it public and sent me to a specialist, Andy Williams.
“They sent the scan to the doctor before I got there so he could make checks and he saw my disc, when I arrived he said, ‘Why are you here? I don’t understand’.
“I told him I could explain. He said some clubs do this. And now everyone thinks my knee is not right.
“One week after Sporting did it to me, they did it to Lucas Silva from Real Madrid. The same thing!
“They said he had a heart problem. And he played for Madrid. And one day later he went back to Madrid and was fine. This is affecting people’s lives.”
Next stop for Sandro is finding a new club before the window shuts.
He said: “I’m training fine and want to film every session to show people.”
You sense the man nicknamed the Beast is on a mission to make up for lost time.