RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Former Bayern Munich and Brazil international right-back Rafinha has admitted that his move to Olympiacos from Flamengo was financially motivated.
The 35-year-old joined the Greek club last month after exercising a clause in his Flamengo contract that allowed him to return to Europe on a free transfer.
"I need to think about my family. I had to be realistic and think about the financial side," Rafinha said in an interview broadcast on Brazilian television on Saturday.
"I thank Flamengo. They did everything to make me stay, but they understood me. I'm 35 years old, my career is ending and this is almost certainly going to be my last contract."
Rafinha joined Flamengo from Bayern Munich in June last year and helped the Rio de Janeiro club secure a historic Copa Libertadores-Brazilian Serie A double five months later.
He described Jorge Jesus, who left Flamengo in July to take charge of Benfica, as one of the world's best managers despite revealing that he did not always see eye to eye with the Portuguese.
"He [Jesus] has his opinions and we had some confrontations at the start, when we didn't communicate a lot," the defender said. "He could be very hard on us but it was all for the good of the team... He's on the list of the best coaches I've had, along with [Pep] Guardiola." Enditem
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