Corinthians close to foreign player match limit after Jesse Lingard arrival | OneFootball

Corinthians have confirmed the signing of midfielder Jesse Lingard, taking their number of foreign players to seven and edging them towards the per match cap in CBF competitions.

In national tournaments run by the CBF, clubs may list up to nine foreign players per game, with no overall squad limit, a rule that covers the Campeonato Brasileiro, Copa do Brasil and Supercopa. According to UOL Esporte, the federation began talks in December 2025 with Série A clubs about reducing that ceiling.

Lingard joins Memphis Depay, Zakaria Labyad, Pedro Milans, André Carrillo, Rodrigo Garro and Fabrizio Angileri in the current squad. Continental competitions organised by Conmebol, such as the Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, do not apply the same per match restriction.

Despite his arrival, Corinthians trimmed their foreign contingent in the last window. Félix Torres was loaned to Internacional, Héctor Hernández and José Martínez had their contracts terminated, and Ángel Romero departed at the end of his deal.

After a 1-0 win over Athletico-PR in the second round of the Brasileirão, Dorival Júnior said Brazilian football should debate a reduction in foreign players, warning of harm to homegrown development and citing Italy’s recent difficulties.

Although announced, Lingard is not yet cleared to debut. The club are awaiting full documentation to add him to the CBF’s BID, and he has not played since December 2025 so will first work on his fitness.

Source: Meu Timao