Ewerton is the player of the miner’s future. But the price is high

The 27-year-old Brazilian midfielder or winger Ewerton is a player with a difference who surpasses the Czech league – experts agree. Baník Ostrava can build a team for a better future on it.

But he belongs to Slavia Prague, he is only on loan at the North Bohemian club for the ongoing 2023/2024 season. If Baník wants to get him permanently, he has to pay an option, which is by no means cheap. Since he has a contract with the Prague club until June 2025, the buyout amount is estimated at more than ten million crowns.

Will Baník’s management be willing to spend such an amount? “If he wants to move on, he should invest, he shouldn’t be afraid to put such sums into strengthening the staff,” advises Pavel Hoftych, an experienced coach of many first league clubs, who coached the Brazilian player in Mladá Boleslav. “Ewerton would be capital well invested,” he says.

Ewerton demonstrated his exceptional shooting skills even in the last round, when he accurately hit the upper right corner of the Teplice goal. He thus participated in a great 4:1 win, which Baník desperately needed after a series of home failures. And it became clear how valuable the Slavist loan is for the team.

His 3-0 goal actually broke the match, Teplice played bravely and offensively like they did all spring. “Then there was nothing left to solve,” admitted the coach of the defeated team, Zdeňko Frťala.

Ewerton’s goal had added value for the fans as well, as the players promised them that each goal would make the beer in the stadium three crowns cheaper. After the Brazilian’s intervention, it had already dropped to 48 crowns. At the end of the match, Baník added one more goal, even the savvy consumers had to try to get drunk at the discount…

After winning three points, the team jumped to fourth place in the FORTUNA:LIGY table, right behind the formidable trio of Sparta, Slavia and Pilsen. However, the points gap is still considerable, fourteen points behind third-placed Pilsen. Out of reach of others.

The successful match of the Brazilian legionnaire made a clear request to the management of the Ostrava club: to buy him out of Slavist commitment, to exercise the option. “I don’t know the economic circumstances, the terms of the contract, but I would use all my strength to get him,” says television expert Josef Němec, who knows well the mentality of football players from Latin America from his involvement in Mexico.

His opinion is not unique. “He is an above-standard player for Czech football, but he still has reserves in the game, he still hasn’t shown everything he can do,” adds former Czech defender Milan Fukal, a participant in the 2000 European Championship, who was active in the German Bundesliga for a long time.

At the same time, however, he wonders what the player’s character is like. “I don’t know him from that side,” he admits. “He can have half a good season, then when he gets a permanent contract, he will be satisfied,” he reflects.

It’s true that Ewerton sometimes seem a little too lukewarm on the pitch.

However, this is refuted by Radek Klier, the press spokesman of FK Pardubice. The East Bohemian club acquired Ewerton on loan from Mladá Boleslav and hit the jackpot. He played a large part in Pardubice’s historic promotion to the top league in the spring of 2020 and then successfully played another full year – already in the first league – at the club.

The experience with him was entirely positive. “First of all, I immediately remember him as a smiling boy, he was always in a good mood, he was always laughing,” says Klier. He transferred that to the field as well. “Even though he started on the bench, which no footballer likes, he didn’t show it, he didn’t create a bad atmosphere,” says the Pardubice official. “And as soon as he got a chance, he immediately got involved, he was as focused and concentrated as possible,” his attitude is pointed out.

It is not surprising that the management of the Pardubice club wanted Ewerton to stay. “Some attempts have been made,” Klier does not hide. However, it was in vain – the then Mladá Boleslav coach Karel Jarolím didn’t even want to hear it. He counted on him in the starting line-up.

Within a year, Ewerton was sold by Mladá Boleslav to champion Slavia. According to the recognized specialist web portal transfermarkt.com, he signed a three-year contract for 800,000 euros (about 20 million crowns).

Expectations were high. “It’s a great pleasure for me to be here,” he said at the welcome in June 2022. “I’m proud to be in the best club in the Czech Republic,” he said, recalling the three Slavist titles in a row. “I had great numbers last season, but that’s in the past,” he realized that he couldn’t live off of his previous successes – eleven goals scored. A big motivation for him was the hitherto unknown European scene,

The enthusiasm was mutual. “Ewerton showed huge quality going forward. We missed his game typology a little during the spring season, so we believe that he will be a reinforcement for Slavia and will realize his potential,” said sports director Jiří Bílek.

The Future of World Football series

However, he did not gain a solid place in the loaded Slavist squad, health ailments were also to blame. Opponents were well aware of how advanced a technical player they have in front of them and did not spare him. It is enough to recall the sharp liquidation action of the Zlín defender Martin Cedidla in the 2nd round of the 2022/2023 season, for which he received a five-game suspension.

However, Ewerton were ruled out for several weeks. He was getting up to speed slowly, the other teammates have so far eluded him. The year 2022/2023 was no longer so magnificent for him, he started fourteen matches and scored two goals.

Hosting seemed like a logical solution. And in Baník, he once again went crazy. “He is a good-natured boy, a team player, a member of the party,” says Hoftych about him. “And above all, he is already adapted, he doesn’t have to get used to the Czech environment, he has been here for a long time,” he reveals another important circumstance, to which he adds his engagement in Slovakia.

There is no doubt about football’s merits. “He is extremely calm, he solves even complex actions with an overview, he does not panic, even when he has several opponents against him,” Hoftych points out, perhaps the rarest quality. It also results in an effective ending.

In Baník’s jersey, he has already scored nine times in league matches. “He can decide the match even from the wing areas,” Hoftych points out, noting that the Spartan legionnaires Lukáš Haraslín of Slovakia and Veljko Birmančević of Serbia can also do it with such quality. “Ewerton will match them,” Viktorie Žižkov, the current sports manager of the second division, has no doubts.

Therefore, the management of the Ostrava club recommends exercising the option. “It won’t be cheap, but quality costs something,” Hoftych says. “If Ewerton fits into the mosaic of what Baník wants to play, I don’t see any other option. If the club wants to develop, it should invest,” he repeats.

The club’s position on this burning issue is predictable. “It is still an open matter,” says press spokesman Marek Lorenc. “There are various variants in the game, but at the current stage of the season we will not comment on it any more and we want to fully concentrate on the end of the season,” he adds.

Anyway, Ewerton in its current form and mood is a very luxury item.

Everton Paixão da Silva