Cafu coming to AESSEAL New York Stadium is the end of a long wait for Rotherham United

CAFU'S arrival at Rotherham United has been six months in the making, manager Matt Taylor has revealed. 

The Millers landed the Portuguese midfield man six days ago on a one-year contract having come close to bringing him to AESSEAL New York Stadium in the last transfer window.

“His move goes back longer than a lot of people know,” Taylor said. “We tried to sign him in January. That would have been a loan from Nottingham Forest when he wasn't in their 25-man Premier League squad.

“I had my initial conversations with ‘Caf’ back then but unfortunately a deal didn't materialise.

Cafu became a free agent when he left Forest, for whom he made 63 second-tier appearances in his first two years in England, at the end of last season and headed back to his homeland.

Taylor used Zoom meetings in recent weeks to up his pursuit of the 30-year-old who wasn't short of interest from elsewhere.

“He had some good offers in Europe so I'm delighted he still wants to play in the Championship,” Taylor said.

Cafu - full name Carlos Miguel Ribeiro Dias - had only two August outings for Forest in his final year with them following their promotion to the top flight and that gave Rotherham more chance of landing him.

“He's an outstanding player,” Taylor said. "He's had a year without football. That's why we've been able to get him.

“His offers elsewhere would have been substantially more than ours and from a better level than the Championship had he played more last season.

“We've got to get him fit. We want to get him playing, get him firing. He's a great lad and a player who will hopefully get our fans excited.”

Supporters’ first chance to see him in action comes next Wednesday evening in a home friendly against Middlesbrough.