Corinthians look to ‘Vagner Love at Flamengo’ to offload Depay

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Coluna do Fla

·15 August 2026

Corinthians look to ‘Vagner Love at Flamengo’ to offload Depay

Vagner Love played for Flamengo in part of 2009 and later in 2012

Flamengo’s financial restructuring led to the release of striker Vagner Love in 2013. As a result, Corinthians is taking inspiration from the rubro-negro club’s move to ‘get rid of’ Memphis Depay this year. President Osmar Stabile has given up on renewing the Dutchman’s contract.

The Corinthians president believes that keeping Memphis in the squad would further harm the club’s financial health. So, the decision was to repeat what Eduardo Bandeira de Mello did with Love, who was on loan from CSKA (RUS). The information comes from UOL.

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What is the context of the situation between Memphis and Corinthians?

Corinthians’ sponsor promised a high-profile signing for the team in 2024. Therefore, the Parque São Jorge side accepted the high salary demanded by the Dutch forward, who was without a club.

However, the removal of the former president and several months of unpaid wages put Depay’s stay in doubt. Even so, the player said there was indeed a verbal agreement with the board to renew this month.

However, the club released a statement saying it would not complete the deal so as not to jeopardize the São Paulo club. As a result, the player, now a free agent, promised to go to court to receive everything the team still owes him from the previous contract.

And how did it happen between Flamengo and Love?

In 2013, Flamengo owed 6 million euros (just over R$16 million at the time) to CSKA for the signing of Vagner Love. The Russian club then made an offer for the striker’s return as a way to offset the debt.

Currently, the Most Beloved One enjoys the status of a club in good financial health. After all, the Rubro-Negro can, for example, turn down a ten-million-euro offer (R$58 million) from Istanbul Basaksehir (TUR) for Léo Pereira.

What is the author’s opinion on the Depay and Corinthians situation?

I saw some Corinthians fans defending the club’s position. But it’s completely different from Mengão in 2013. Fla gave up much more. Love was only part of the sacrifice,” said João Vítor Reis of Coluna do Fla, who added: “In fact, anyone who thinks Memphis is Corinthians’ real problem is mistaken. Did you know that Vitinho, the former Flamengo player, earns more than R$1 million per month? Pedro Raul is heading into his third year at the club without justifying the signing,” he opined.

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