Figo Watch: Sorry, It’s Not Over

By: Martha | January 4th, 2007

You're crazy, ref. Look, I’m trying to stop writing about this. Really, I am — I know not everyone cares quite about as much about Figo’s whereabouts as I do. And, yesterday, we thought it was over — he showed up in Bahrain, trained with Inter, and the club finally made an official statement on all the rumors, saying simply “There are no negotiations for the transfer of Luis Figo to another club. The recent news of a possible transfer of the Portuguese midfielder is, therefore, completely groundless.” Done and dusted, right?

Wrong. Either it’s not quite over, or the people at Al-Ittihad are in a state of deep and profound denial — they’re still insisting that Figo is about to join them in Saudi Arabia, and that they’ll introduce him to the press today. Wha? According to an update made today to the club’s official website (which I can’t find — sadly, we can’t test Google’s beta Arabic translating tool), Inter turned down their initial approach but have since accepted a higher transfer fee (in excess, they say, of £3.2 million). As a result, Figo will join Al-Ittihad through June 2008, earning £6.4 million for 18 months of work. So, we have three options: 1)there’s been a huge misunderstanding, 2)someone is lying through their teeth, or 3)the people at one of the clubs are deeply delusional. Hopefully we’ll know the truth in a few hours, when Figo either disappears from training and shows up in Dubai to meet the press, or Al-Ittihad throws a big Figo party without the guest of honor. At which point, by the way, I will stop talking about this. No, really.

Edit: HAHHAHAA! If you can believe it, that second option actually happened. Witness this just-published gem from the International Herald-Tribune: “Luis Figo failed to attend a contract signing ceremony with the Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad Thursday.” And, later “Journalists from around the Gulf region had traveled to Dubai for the contract signing.“ Fan. Freaking. Tastic. You’ve got to give them credit for their optimism — I’m imagining a room with an empty podium at the front and a million reporters standing there, peering at the door. Anyway, for the ~~second~~ ~~third~~ fourth time, it’s over.