Rui Costa: São Paulo director on transfers, sales and key futures | OneFootball

Rui Costa, São Paulo’s executive football director, gave a long press conference on the afternoon of Wednesday (19th) at the Barra Funda training center, where he answered various questions from the press.

The director addressed topics such as the frequent injuries at the club, how the planning for the 2026 season is going, whether he will stay at Tricolor after the offer from Grêmio, Oscar, Lucas, Crespo, and much more.

Check out the main topics from the interview:

Injuries in abundance: “Obviously, missing players in a competitive sport, especially football, should always be avoided, because it adds a significant difficulty to what is already complicated, such as playing in the final stretch of a championship. But we have to make a deep distinction regarding the origin of these absences.”

“Throughout this year, we had a series of absences due to injuries that are not inherent to medical intervention. The three top scorers. Calleri, a striker who needs no introduction, André, who was becoming a goal scorer, and Ryan, who is the most outstanding player in recent history.”

“And why couldn’t they play? Was it because of muscle injuries, some kind of overload? No. It was because they had torn ligaments. So, is having 12 absences concerning? Yes. But among these absences, we have health situations. Luiz, who is not an absence today, but was a very important one, because he is a very significant leader. And he had a health problem that is not directly related to professional activity.”

“Of course, Lucas, Marcos Antônio, are players who are going through this moment of having to stop a bit due to some physical situations. The absences concern us, but more than being concerned, we have to be very clear about their origin, because otherwise we might commit some injustices. We have teams focused primarily on prevention, which is the most modern thing in football.”

Planning for 2026: “We are always thinking at least six months ahead, because that’s the strategy given our inability to compete financially with other clubs. Since 2021, we made a diagnosis of the squad and started to change the profile of that squad. And we always do it a semester in advance.”

“I think to say today that we made mistakes, and football is about mistakes and successes, especially when we operate in this context of greater risks, we can’t forget… Allow me to go back to the recent past. To talk about the profile of the athletes we brought in until we formed the team today, completely connected to the club’s causes and committed to taking São Paulo to the best possible positions, with a clear sense of belonging to what it means to be at São Paulo.”

“But that takes time. Having expensive or cheap players is very relative. Is Rafael expensive or cheap? Was Rafinha expensive or cheap? Is Marcos Antônio expensive or cheap? Over these years, we have carried out a very structured process based on clear concepts and strategies. Being creative and assertive in signings.”

“When we could invest, we were very capable of having more success than failure. When we were creative and brought in free agents, I feel we were more assertive. And that’s what should happen next year. Talking about planning would be extremely inappropriate for someone who still has so much to discuss on the pitch. We are seeking the best the Championship can offer. And for that, we need the athletes to be calm and confident that they are integrated into this project, which will persist until the game against Vitória.”

“The professionals here have to adapt to the club’s reality. And be competitive to pursue achievements. São Paulo demands achievements. All variables have been considered, we have already held several meetings analyzing this, with everyone here at the training center. President, Belmonte, myself, Muricy, Nelson Chapecó… Now more recently with Márcio’s presence. Now, we are focused on doing the best for São Paulo next season.”

There was an offer, but he’s staying: “This contact (from Grêmio) happened. It’s known by Belmonte, by the president. Even the details of this conversation, because I thought it was important to tell them. Obviously, I have a relationship with this club. But I have been at São Paulo Futebol Clube for five years. And I have from the directors a sense of welcome that goes far beyond my contract.”

“I was welcomed and received here as if I were a São Paulo supporter from the beginning. And today São Paulo is already the club where I have stayed the longest, where I have the most longevity. And I intend for this to lead me to be here for a Libertadores title, a Brazilian title, maybe another Copa do Brasil, which was unprecedented. I have great affection and respect for this club and I intend to fulfill my contract and stay here for a long time.”

Situations of Galoppo, Enzo, and Tapia: “Obviously today this relationship with River Plate is very important for us, because it was creative and assertive. We brought in Enzo Diaz, who if I’m not mistaken has almost 54 matches for São Paulo, and who will stay at São Paulo, because he met the targets. We have Tapia, who arrived amid doubts and has been extremely useful for us here. He has embraced the spirit of playing for São Paulo, just like Enzo.”

“And Galoppo, who has been used recurrently, but not to trigger the mandatory purchase clause. Where do we stand? All of us here routinely analyze this scenario with River, we have been talking to River, and we are trying to reach an arrangement that meets everyone’s interests. Tapia’s stay here, Enzo’s stay, which is already consolidated, and the sale of Galoppo to River. That’s what we are discussing. I believe we will have some resolution in the next few days.”

Oscar: “I learned here at Barra Funda, with the directors who brought me, to manage with a strong focus on the human aspect. And we have experienced very dramatic situations here with many athletes. Some well known and others not so much. And others notorious, like Alisson himself. And in all these moments what always prevailed here was when I could take care of the human being and how I could make this process of humanization be exhausted before entering a process of contract, expenses, investment.”

“And with Oscar it will be no different. Our concern is how he will return to being a good father, being healthy to be a family man, a son, a brother. And from there, when he is fully recovered, rest assured that we will address performance and contract issues, because he is a major investment for the club.”

“We believe Oscar’s signing was completely correct. Oscar, like every athlete, undergoes games, training… He is an extremely important player for us. He did not suffer normal football injuries. He had a fracture of three vertebrae. And then all the processes and problems you know about. I am absolutely convinced that if he had had consistency, without such significant problems, he would still be a standout player as he is. And that’s why we brought him.”

Sales of Cotia athletes: “The club survives on player sales and TV revenue. There is no other equation. It’s not just São Paulo. And São Paulo specifically in this matter of selling players, historically is a club that survives by selling its standouts. Therefore, this should not change.”

“I even explained elsewhere that selling a player is multifactorial. It depends on the market, it depends on an analysis we do every day and you don’t have access to. São Paulo has a very professional process for transitioning young players. The athletes have their training quantity monitored.”

“There you start to notice their profile, how they relate in moments of adversity. How they relate to older players, with high-level training. When the moment comes for them to play, and that was the case with Beraldo, because he spent almost a year here without being called up… When he played, he was ready and became a protagonist.”

“Sometimes players are sold more quickly, because there is a financial requirement or you have a diagnosis that that is the right time to sell. There is no rule for this. In an ideal world, we would want to have all the good players here. Maybe if we had Sara here today it would be a great signing, but we needed to sell Sara, as we needed to sell several players in these five years, which is what I have to evaluate here.”

“Certainly, as the club finds new paths, makes higher, more significant sales, maybe we won’t need to sell so many players. But I wouldn’t say there was a mistake on our part in this process. I believe it’s a matter of circumstance and context, that the club has to meet its demands, and for that sometimes you have to cut into your own flesh.”

Will Crespo stay? “Crespo has a contract with us until the end of 2026. He participates in all internal processes with us, he is heard, consulted, we share things with him. He has a habit of always finishing training… Muricy is there on the bench, Belmonte, the president, me, Nelson. And the coaches usually come there to have that conversation which is the most important of the day, because he opens his heart, talks about his concerns. We did this with all the coaches who have been here, that’s why we kept a good relationship.”

“And Crespo is part of this. When he gives an opinion that is very much his own, in the sense of worrying about the future. Obviously he was saying this because of the high demands placed on him. But we see him as very committed to the future, to 2026. I believe some of his statements are made in the heat of the moment, which affects the human being. But I see Crespo as very integrated into our 2026 planning process.”

Negotiating the older players? “If I answered that, I would be contradicting what I just said, that we can’t talk about names or strategies. We talk about concepts. You mentioned Luiz Gustavo, extremely important for us here. About him I can say a little, because his stay was very much due to his technical and human quality, because he is a leader. He added a lot of self-criticism to our squad.”

“He demands a lot from his teammates and encourages them to demand from themselves. But every time you establish a renewal relationship with the athlete or communicate, I’m not talking about Luiz anymore, you create dissatisfaction or a conflict of interest. Because I propose something to you and you make a counterproposal.”

“And this is not the time for that. We have to focus on the remaining games, get as many points as possible, and after that we will look for the players’ agents to outline our strategy, which is already thought out and evaluated. And Luiz, for a guy who had all the health problems he had, comes back in a game after almost a four-hour trip, stands out… Talking about renewal now would be disrespectful to him as a human being, not as an athlete. We are very clear about what we have to do, but we can’t have a breach of commitment and trust or any other situation that takes them away from focusing on taking São Paulo as high as possible.”

Lucas told it like it is: “Lucas is an extremely important player for us. Today we even had an internal conversation about what would be said about Lucas. I don’t need to say what Lucas represents. As soon as the Bragantino game ended, Lucas came to us to say that he felt much less than before, but that ‘I don’t feel whole.’ ‘I can’t do everything I need to do to make a difference at São Paulo.’ And from there this was reported to the doctors, to our professionals, and he, as you already know, is in the medical report.”

“We hope he will be fully recovered starting in January. I don’t know yet, there is a process of evaluation criteria until the end of the season. But we count on him a lot for next year and believe he can be a difference-maker in our campaign.”

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