Botafogo eye Ferraresi, face competition from Messi’s club | OneFootball

The list of departures from São Paulo for the next season might gain another member: the defender Ferraresi.

Media outlets reported and AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR confirmed on Wednesday (10) that the 27-year-old Venezuelan, at Morumbi since 2022 and a starter for his national team, received an inquiry from Botafogo.

The problem for the Rio de Janeiro team is that Ferraresi has another team interested: Inter Miami, the U.S. team where Lionel Messi plays.

Sources from the defender's staff who spoke with the report indicated that the coach of the American team, Javier Mascherano, personally called to express interest in the signing.

Since the beginning of the year, Inter Miami has been monitoring Ferraresi's situation. São Paulo left the door open for a possible departure in January, when they were still in the North American country for pre-season, but no official offer came. The reason was that the franchise had exceeded the foreign player limit.

Ferraresi has a contract with Tricolor until the end of 2027 and has experienced ups and downs since his arrival. He only got a real chance with Rogério Ceni at the end of 2022 due to a series of injuries (see how the issue is not new) to players in the sector. He impressed enough to start the following year as a starter, but ended up in Reffis right after the second game, in a classic against Palmeiras on the synthetic field of Parque Antártica.

Despite the injury, São Paulo finalized the permanent purchase of the player (who was on loan) from the City Group for 4.3 million euros (approximately R$ 23 million), paid in installments over three years.

Somewhat sidelined in 2024, Ferraresi started this year with great expectations. He was a starter under Luis Zubeldía, playing improvised on the right flank, and began the new Hernán Crespo era secured in the starting eleven in a three-defender scheme. However, he was left out in the last rounds of the Brazilian Championship.

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