Former Athletico player receives offer to lead Asian club revolution

Striker Anderson Lopes , who played for Athletico in 2016, has received an offer from Lion City Sailors , the current champions of the Singapore league. The club's goal is for the Brazilian to lead a revolution in Singaporean football.

Anderson Lopes has been in Asian football since leaving Rubro-Negro and is now the main name for Yokohama Marinos. The striker has 79 goals for the Japanese club and is the second highest scorer in history. He already won the J-League title in 2022 and was one of the main names in the last edition of the Asian Champions League.

Due to his good numbers in Japan, Lion City Premiers believes that the former Athletico striker is the ideal name for the new project. The club offers a salary twice as high as the player receives in Japan and also intends to transform him into a symbol of the growth of the local league.

Despite the good offer, Anderson Lopes is focused on getting his current club out of the relegation zone of the Japanese Championship. Yokohama Marinos is bottom of the J-League with 14 points and has only three wins in 19 games.

“Right now I’m just focused on getting Marinos out of this situation. Marinos has never been last and has never fought against relegation in its history. As for the proposal, I’ll leave it to my agents. I’m focused on getting the team out of this situation,” said Anderson Lopes, in an interview with UmDois Esportes .

At the beginning of the year, Botafogo tried to sign Anderson Lopes to strengthen the squad for the Club World Cup. However, Yokohama Marinos kept the player and renewed his contract until 2027.

“It almost worked out. The club didn’t decide to release me, and I had just renewed my contract, and I was also the top scorer. I also understood the club and left it in their hands. I was happy with Botafogo’s offer and life goes on.”

“It was a feeling of everything. A bit of staying here, a bit of going to Botafogo to play in the World Cup. We were very close to the World Cup, but we lost the final to Al-Ain. That was a frustration that shook everyone. This year the plan was to play in the ACL final, but we didn’t make it. If it wasn’t meant to happen, it’s all good,” added the striker.

Despite the Japanese national team's good campaign in the World Cup qualifiers, Japanese clubs are finding it difficult to dominate the scene in the Asian Champions League. The Saudi Arabian teams have received millions in investments, signed world stars and have become the main powers.

Even with the growth of the Saudis, Anderson Lopes believes that Japanese clubs are capable of competing. Yokohama Marinos itself was runner-up in the Champions League in 2024. Kawasaki Frontale eliminated Al-Nassr, with Cristiano Ronaldo, but lost the final of the last edition to Al-Ahli, with Brazilian Roberto Firmino.

“Japanese football has always been at a high level. The Japanese have always had great technical quality and I believe it is possible to compete with them, even with all the stars. Living proof of this was Frontale, another Japanese team that beat Al-Nassr and had a good final. Of course the investment is different, but it is possible to compete,” said the striker.

Avaí standout Anderson Lopes signed with Athletico in 2016, but left after only 19 games and two goals. For the striker, the departure of coach Cristóvão Borges was the main reason for losing his place at Rubro-Negro.

“Athletico is a team where if the player has a good mindset, the club provides everything he needs to do a good job. My time at Athletico was short, and I am grateful for the opportunity. There were changes of coaches, Cristóvão Borges was the one who hired me and I lost my place after he left,” recalled the striker.

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