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| From Santos FC's player bio (http://www.santosfc.com.br/elenco/ze-carlos/) |
I was able to have some fluent Portuguese speakers look over the report on a loan of Zeca to Columbus. The original report is on a Brazilian ESPN site. It was picked up by reporters covering Crew SC including Adam Jardy and Patrick Guldan. Massive Report published a summary as well.
What follows is a partial translation of the original article without the last two paragraphs. Of note is the figure reportedly being offered if the Crew SC exercise an option to buy Zeca's rights after the loan period. The figure as reported is 1,000,000 US dollars. I've asked my sources if this could be read as 1,000,000 Brazilian Reais (which would be roughly 300,000 US dollars) and they think it is highly unlikely. This is more than the compensation for Columbus' highest paid player last year, Federico Higuain, and should raise eyebrows if true.
Also of interest is what my sources said about the last two paragraphs they did not translate. The penultimate paragraph talks about how the new coach, Dorival Junior has started playing Zeca as a means way to dissuade him from making a move to MLS. It then talks about how the salaries are comparable whether he stayed or moved to Columbus. Lastly, it mentions the presence of bonuses in contracts for reaching a certain number of assists and/or goals. My sources seemed to think this referred to whatever contract is being drafted by Columbus/MLS and not his present contract.
The translation:
The wing[back] Zeca is close to being the new reinforcement for [the] Columbus Crew for the MLS 2015 season. The player, who is still training with Santos, finalized a loan agreement with the North American team initially for 6 months. Some details are still being worked on [which] is holding up the public announcement.
From what I could discover, Columbus' idea is to continue the loan agreement for one more semester [note, my sources indicate 'semester' could be read as season or a period like six months] and then decide if it was going to definitely acquire [his] economic rights or not, but [...] president Modesto Roma Junior did not accept the free extension of the agreement.
This [means] the North American team will have to decide in December if it is going to keep the athlete after the loan period. The Crew directors [are set] to pay $1 million for the player if he [proves himself technically].
At 21 yrs of age, Zeca plays on both wings and [his] foundational [development was at] Santos itself. He was not used much by [...] ex-coach Marcelo Fernandes. He played more in the Paulistao and in the Brasil Cup, when the reserve team played, as in the game with Londrina.
Another piece information that I received from MLS sources is that Columbus will use Zeca as a right wing, at the request of the coach Gregg Berhalter. There he will be accompanied by important players such as the midfielder Argentine Federico Higuain and the center forward Kei Kamara, from Sierra Leone. The team is playing for a position in the Eastern Conference [for] the league playoffs, where it is currently in second place.
I've indicated my own edits for clarity in brackets which were done with consultation.
