Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 9y

Ex-Brazil striker Adriano to consider move to French Ligue 2 side Le Havre

Le Havre have invited former Brazil international Adriano to visit the club with a view to him signing for the Ligue 2 outfit.

Adriano, 32, last played a competitive fixture in the colours of Atletico Paranaense in his native country last February.

However, Le Havre are hoping to persuade the former Parma and Inter Milan star to join them following a visit to the Normandy coast scheduled later this month.

"I have invited Adriano to come on Oct. 31 for him to see the stadium, the club, the infrastructure," Christophe Maillol, a former rugby player and agent who is in the process of buying a controlling stake in France's oldest football club, told Le Parisien's website.

"With a little bit of luck, I hope to convince him of our project -- that is if I can still speak Portuguese then!"

Maillol shrugged off suggestions Adriano, who notoriously struggled with weight and disciplinary problems throughout his career in homeland and in Italy, had seen his talent diminish.

"Even if he only comes to visit, I'll be happy," Maillol said of the forward, who was capped 51 times by his country.

"I don't have any doubt about him returning to the top level. Can you ride a bike? If you stop for two or three years, you're still going to be able to do it.

"Adriano is a great footballer, and it's not because he's been stopped for six or seven months that he can't put one foot in front of the other."

Adriano's agent, Claudio Luiz Menezes, told Brazilian website Sambafoot on Thursday that his client has accepted the proposal.

"I can confirm that I received an invitation from Le Havre and Christophe Maillol to know the club and the city," Menezes said.

"Nothing is signed and Adriano will not come to do a test. Rodolfo [who will engage with the HAC in January] is his friend, they are both in Rio.

"He spoke positively of the project, that the club wants to rejoin Ligue 1 very quickly and find its audience, his stadium.

"Adriano has accepted the invitation. He will stay two or three days there. The date has not been set yet."

"My client wants to play football again. We received other proposals, we will consider them all.

"We are interested in French football, we see this as an opportunity, we would go for perhaps 5-6 months."

"Adriano knows Thiago Silva but Ibra [Zlatan Ibrahimovic], he played with him at Inter. He would be happy to see them again."

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