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Arturo Vidal has taken shots at former manager Jorge Sampaoli after his debut for Athletico Paranaense. The midfielder signed a deal until the end of the year after terminating his contract with Flamengo.
Vidal was not getting minutes under Sampaoli and had played less than 500 minutes under the manager at Flamengo this season. The Chilean had just two assists to his name for his former side when he chose to terminate his contract.
Speaking to the media after his debut for Athletico Paranaense, Vidal was quick to slam Sampaoli, calling him a 'loser'. He said:
"I feel very happy to play, I've always been prepared. I only had one coach [Sampaoli], a loser, who doesn't know how to appreciate the players, but it's fine, he is in the past now, now I'm happy."
Arturo Vidal registered two goals and three assists in his spell at Flamengo, where he played a total of 51 matches.
Arturo Vidal was once a big fan of Jorge Sampaoli
Arturo Vidal was, however, once a big fan of Jorge Sampaoli and has heaped praise on the manager in the past. The midfielder was linked with a move to Marseille while Sampaoli was the manager of the club.
However, he did not make the move to France to play for the Ligue 1 side. He did praise the manager and said via GFFN:
"Sampaoli is an important person for me in football… Conte, Ancelotti… All my managers helped me a lot, but Sampaoli, it is unique, he won me the title with my country, that marks you for life. We speak when we can. We have a good relationship. I respect him. Talking about teams like this is very hard (asked about a move to Marseille).
"I respect Inter a lot, I respect what he is doing as manager of Marseille. I feel very good here. I have just become a champion. I cannot think about anything else right now."
Arturo Vidal even backed Samapoli to be a Premier League manager in 2016 and was quoted by ESPN as saying:
"I would love to see him in England. He has a lot of quality. He would help any club he joined to improve. He has the perfect style for the Premier League. He likes speed, he likes pressing, he likes to attack a lot.
"That is the football you like in England, isn't it? He works hard too. He understands players, he studies everything. He would do really well in England. He only lives for football."
However, things have not always been good between the two of late. Sampaoli was blamed for leaking things to the media when he left the Chile national team, as per ESPN.
