The club hierarchy contacted Valencia. Valencia slapped a 1.5M asking price on him. Peñarol’s entire annual turnover was 1.2M. Not a chance.
But the fans would have none of it. An idea emerged, a shared goal and collective effort to bring our idol and glory back…
THE FANS WOULD PAY THE TRANSFER FEE
even in the midst of a dictatorship, oil crisis, debt crisis... Morena’s stint abroad was also felt by fans from other clubs: Uruguay finally had something remotely resembling a midfield, but now couldn’t score for toffee and crashed out in the WC qualifiers.
Within a few months, 0.5M had been raised. I used to save my lunch money to buy Morena bonds. Only time I was ever skinny
Morena also helped. Firstly, he was willing to give up on $250K in yearly wages (85% drop), in line with the club’s budget. Secondly, he made it clear to Valencia his heart was back at Peñarol, making the price drop to 1M and –as the Anniversary league was underway- secured an agreement to pay half upfront (collected already) and the other half split over the next two seasons.
It paid back handsomely. Peñarol won the league, the Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup. He top scored in both, including a last ditch winner for the Libertadores. Collecting the annual installment was piss-easy.
The 1983 Copa America came. Alongside Francescoli, Ramos and Paz he was surely finally going to win something with the national team.
We beat Paraguay 3-0, he scored. We beat Chile 2-1, he scored. Then we were 3-0 up against Venezuela (he scored)... and a horror tackle put an end to it all. Uruguay won it, but no medal.