DBasia.news – There are many great and legendary names in the Arsenal squad when they were undefeated in the 2003-04 season. No wonder that Gilberto Silva’s name is not the first figure that comes to mind when discussing The Invincibles Arsenal.
In fact, the role of Gilberto Silva has been great. It’s not without reason, the Brazilian player was nicknamed The Invisible Wall. His presence in the midfield became the initial fortress while making Patrick Vieira, Fredrik Ljungberg, and Robert Pires more free to attack.
Although originally from Brazil, Gilberto is not the most Brazilian player. He is not a “samba dancer”. On the contrary, he is known to be tenacious in defense and maintain team balance. Veja, the leading Brazilian magazine, called him the piano carrier for Rivaldo and Ronaldo in the Brazilian national team.
Gilberto Silva defended Arsenal for six seasons. He joined after the 2002 World Cup and left in 2008. He won four titles, including the 2003-04 Premier League champions that marked the invincibles.
Together with the Brazilian national team, Gilberto Silva was also fairly successful. Nine years defending the Selecao, he appeared 93 times and won four trophies. In addition to the 2002 World Cup champion, he also won the 2007 Copa America championship trophy and the 2003 and 2005 Confederations Cup.
After being released by Arsenal, Gilberto Silva had three seasons to defend Panathinaikos, then two seasons to strengthen Gremio. In 2013, he returned to the club that made his name, Atletico Mineiro. At that club he ended his career as a footballer.
Once targeted by Atletico Mineiro to become a sporting director, Gilberto Silva chose to return to Panathinaikos in 2016. He signed a three-year contract as a technical director. However, he was in that position for only seven months.
“I don’t know exactly what’s wrong, but I have already made a decision. This is life. Sometimes, you come up with a lot of plans and hopes, but it doesn’t go as expected, “explained Gilberto, as quoted by Inside Futbol.
Gilberto Silva did not necessarily leave football. In January 2017, he joined the Partner Sports Consultaria agency based in Belo Horizonte. He was trusted by Fabio Mello, the owner, as executive director.
One of the big steps taken by Gilberto Silva as a player agent is bringing Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk to Manchester United in 2018. According to him, his first contact with the midfielder was established in 2016.
Gilbero Silva played a major role in Fred’s move from Shakhtar Donetsk to Manchester United.
“I started working with Fred last year after returning from Greece. When I was a technical director in Greece, I met my brother and lawyer who were my best friends, “he said as quoted by UOL.
Fred’s move to Manchester United was a big challenge for Gilberto. There were two things that became a problem. First, the doping case at the 2015 Copa America which resulted in a one year sentence. That tarnished the image of the player.
The second problem is the failure to move to Manchester City in January 2018. This devastated the player. The move failed because of the veto from the management of Shakhtar Donetsk. In the end, Gilberto Silva was able to bring Fred to Manchester United.
The success of handling Fred was recognized by Fabio Mello as a bright spot for Partner Sports Consultario. He believes Gilberto Silva can be even more prominent.