Despite Newton's OK to join São Paulo, Botafogo reject first bid | OneFootball

São Paulo’s negotiations to sign defensive midfielder Newton started badly, briefly gave the club’s directors some encouragement, and now have the warning lights on again.

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned, the Rio de Janeiro club rejected the first approach made by the São Paulo side on Monday (1).

After making progress last week on a proposal to take Newton on loan with a mandatory purchase clause triggered by agreed performance targets (number of matches and the like), the Morumbi side saw its attempt to bargain down Botafogo’s asking price fall through.

Botafogo are insisting on letting Newton go only with a purchase clause set at 5 million euros (around R$ 29.4 million). São Paulo offered 3 million euros (approximately R$ 17.7 million).

Tricolor do not want to lose the deal for two reasons. First: Newton was a specific request from Dorival Júnior, who wants a tall player with strong marking ability. In addition, the player has signaled through his entourage that he is open to a move to Morumbi.

Because of this, the tendency is for São Paulo to raise their offer or propose paying the clause in installments, which would only start being paid from 2027 onward.

It is the same model through which Tricolor secured Artur from Botafogo.

The defensive midfielder played 17 matches for Botafogo this season and scored one goal. Under Martín Anselmi, he was even used out of position as a center-back. Under Franclim Carvalho, however, he lost space and featured in only three matches, starting in two of them.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.