After 16 years of twists and turns, Luan agrees exit with São Paulo | OneFootball

Defensive midfielder Luan, 27, is close to making his departure from São Paulo official. Out of the coaching staff’s plans since July and training at alternate hours at the Barra Funda training center, the player moved forward this Thursday (3) with an amicable agreement for the early termination of his contract, which was valid until the end of this season.

The Made in Cotia player accepted the financial offer presented by São Paulo’s board to bring his deal to an early end, leaving him free to sign with another team in the transfer market.

This season, Luan played only 14 matches in the Tricolor shirt, with a longer run of games between April and May during coach Roger Machado’s spell. The midfielder’s last appearance came on May 19, in a 1-1 draw against Colombia’s Millonarios in the Copa Sudamericana.

Development, historic title, and depression

Part of the club’s youth setup since 2010, when he arrived at age 11, Luan was promoted to the first team in 2018 by coach Diego Aguirre. The defensive midfielder became a starter in the holding role and enjoyed his standout moment in 2021, when he scored one of the goals in the win over Palmeiras in the Paulista Championship final, ending São Paulo’s nearly nine-year title drought.

In 2022, after lengthy negotiations, the player renewed his contract until the end of 2026. Although he was part of the squad that won the Copa do Brasil in 2023, the midfielder lost space in the starting team and was eventually loaned to Vitória to get more playing time.

Back at Morumbi in 2025, the player ended a gap of more than 600 days without playing for Tricolor when he made his return under Hernán Crespo. However, with changes in the coaching staff and the arrivals of Roger Machado and Dorival Júnior, Luan once again saw little action, culminating in his removal from the main squad and the subsequent end of his spell at the club. In recent years, he suffered severe bouts of depression because of the situation and had to undergo psychological treatment.

Luan is another São Paulo academy product who is no longer part of the club’s plans and is on his way out. This Wednesday (2), AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR reported that right-back Maik, also a Cotia graduate, finalized his loan move to FK Dukla Banská in Slovakia.

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