Corinthians football chief on talks with Memphis, potential signings | OneFootball

Júlio César, Corinthians’ football manager, gave an interview to Rádio Bandeirantes and was asked about negotiations to renew striker Memphis Depay’s contract, which currently runs with the club only until July 31. According to information from Meu Timão, the Dutchman is only expected to report back to CT Dr. Joaquim Grava if he reaches an agreement on a contract extension with Timão. According to the outlet, internally, it is understood that there is no point in the player returning to the club’s activities just a few days before his deal with the Parque São Jorge club expires.

“His contract ends now, at the end of the month. Everything is tied to the renewal. Marcelo (Paz) and the president (Osmar Stabile) are handling that. We’ve obviously done our own planning for a few possibilities, but Marcelo is dealing with this internally. There are plans, but everything is tied to the renewal. So, we’ll leave the next steps until we can say something concrete,” he began.

Photo: Ari Ferreira/Red Bull Bragantino

Signed in September 2024 after not having his contract renewed by Atlético de Madrid of Spain, Memphis Depay arrived at Corinthians and was immediately crucial in the team’s surge in the previous Brazilian Championship edition (from the relegation zone to the Libertadores qualifying rounds), scoring seven goals and providing one assist in 11 matches in the national tournament.

Last season and at the start of this one, he was decisive in winning the Campeonato Paulista (2025), Copa do Brasil (2025), and Supercopa do Brasil (2026), recording two assists in those finals and playing an important role in the earlier knockout rounds. Wearing the Corinthians shirt, he has 20 goals and 15 assists in 79 matches — 40 wins, 18 draws, and 21 losses — a 58.23% success rate.

He was later asked about internal discussions within the Corinthians board over possible reinforcements in this transfer window, which will be open between July 20 and September 11. It is worth remembering that Alvinegro is under a Fifa transfer ban — prohibited from registering new players — due to a debt to the Philadelphia Union of the United States over the signing of midfielder José Martínez in mid-2024.

“It (the role in signings) is between the locker room and the board, but I talk a lot with Marcelo. He asks for my opinion, he asks questions. Obviously Marcelo and the president are above that; many decisions are ultimately made by them. But it’s an area where we exchange ideas. He always asks. When there’s a need to make initial contact with an agent, with a player, sometimes with a player who is out on loan, I bring something up and always send it straight to Marcelo. Everything goes through him, but we communicate a lot,” he continued.

At Corinthians since April, after his first experience as an executive at Red Bull Bragantino, the club where he ended his playing career in 2022, Júlio César detailed his duties in the day-to-day operations of the Parque São Jorge club. One of them is to promote integration between the youth academy and the senior squad, acting as a ‘mediator’ in the dialogue between the coaching staffs.

“Today, my duties are very clear here: to establish processes between departments, bring the youth ranks closer again — and that has been done a lot — to be very close to the players and the coaching staff, to be involved in the day-to-day at the training center, manage the training center, our daily environment, which is very important, to have organization, to have standards, to have routine, to keep the environment healthy so the players can work. And, of course, to assist Marcelo Paz with all demands, even being with him in signings, arrivals and departures. Very close to (Fernando) Diniz. You cover a little bit of everything,” he concluded.

Júlio César came through Corinthians’ youth academy and, for the first team, played between 2005 and 2014. In total, he made 140 appearances wearing the Timão shirt, winning the following titles: Brazilian Championship (2005 and 2011), Série B (2008), Paulistão (2009 and 2013), Conmebol Libertadores (2012), Club World Cup (2012), and Recopa Sudamericana (2013).

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