Corinthians seal loan of Under-20 midfielder to rivals | OneFootball

Corinthians have decided the future of Luiz Eduardo, a 19-year-old midfielder who is part of the Under-20 squad. The player will be loaned to Santos for a period of 12 months, and the deal includes a purchase option at the end of the loan. The information was first reported by Meu Timão.

The move comes after the player lost space in the squad managed by William Batista. The last time Luiz Eduardo took the field was on July 19, in the 7-1 rout over Ponte Preta in the Paulista Under-20 Championship. On that occasion, he contributed directly to the score by providing an assist.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca / Agência Corinthians

In 2025, the midfielder made 22 appearances, starting in 14 of them. Three of those appearances came during the Copinha. Throughout the year, Luiz Eduardo found the net just once and also recorded one assist.

The player arrived at Parque São Jorge in April 2024, during Augusto Melo’s administration. At the time, Corinthians stated that they had acquired, without payment to Água Santa, 50% of the player’s economic rights. The contract signed with the black-and-white club runs until April 2029.

The deal, however, later became the subject of clarifications. Igor Zveibrucker, an entrepreneur who maintained several partnerships with Augusto Melo, said last year that he had paid R$ 3.5 million to Água Santa to make the player’s move to Corinthians possible.

“There was this R$ 3.5 million agreement, but that was directly with Água Santa. We negotiated everything directly with Água Santa. We bought Luiz Eduardo’s power of attorney, took over the player’s career, and acquired a share of Água Santa’s stake in any future sale. In other words, if Luiz Eduardo breaks out and is sold, 50% of the amount goes to Corinthians and 50% to Água Santa, and we will receive a portion of Água Santa’s 50% — if I’m not mistaken, 20%,” explained Flávio Portella, partner at Unique Sports & Marketing, the company responsible for the midfielder’s career, in an interview with Gazeta Esportiva in June 2025.

In the same interview, Portella detailed Zveibrucker’s participation in the operation and the relationship between the parties involved in the deal: “Igor is a partner of ours, an investor. We do business together, sometimes with us investing, sometimes with him investing. In this negotiation, he came in as an investment partner and our agency kept the power of attorney,” he added.

Although he played predominantly in the youth categories, Luiz Eduardo also received opportunities with Corinthians’ senior team. In total, he made two appearances for the first team.

His debut came on February 1, 2025, when he came on during the 2-1 victory over Noroeste. Two days later, he was used again, this time starting in the 1-0 win over Novorizontino. Both matches were part of the Paulista Championship.

Considering his time with the Under-17 and Under-20 teams, the midfielder played 72 matches in Corinthians’ youth system. During that period, he scored six goals.

While Luiz Eduardo prepares to begin a new chapter at Santos, Corinthians’ Under-20 side have a match scheduled for this Saturday. Already guaranteed a place in the knockout stage of the Paulista Championship, the team will close out their first-phase campaign against América-SP at 3 p.m. at Fazendinha.

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