Cuban volleyball player Wilfredo León extends million-dollar contract with Italian league

February 4, 2022

After some speculation about Wilfredo León's future in volleyball, the Cuban silenced many doubters by signing a new contract with Italian club Sir Safety Perugia.

This agreement commits the Santiago native, now naturalized Polish, to spend the next three seasons with this team, after rumors circulated that he would leave Italy for a possible move to the Russian league.

Perugia's own president, Gino Sirci, was the one who announced the news of León's signing for the next three years, which will give the Cuban 1.5 million euros per season, according to local media reports.

Experts are calling this milestone a "historic contract" precisely because of the sum involved, although they expect no less reward for the player recognized as the best in the world in this sport.

"We couldn't let our captain leave and we couldn't let him leave like this," Sirci said when asked about it.

For his part, León also expressed his satisfaction at staying in Italy, where he still has much left to accomplish.

"I couldn't leave without having won everything I could with Perugia. It's true that I had other offers, but after talking with the president I decided to stay here again. Starting a winning streak this season already, when we're in the race for everything. It was an easier choice than in the past: having this group, this club, this team was important to continue this relationship," the volleyball player said.