Despite new deal, Luciano's camp mention Saudi Arabia interest | OneFootball

After the bucolic departure of Arboleda, São Paulo could lose another standout from its squad in the next transfer window.

According to what AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned, Luciano’s camp has been saying behind the scenes that it expects an offer from Saudi Arabian football in July, when the transfer market reopens.

A source close to the Tricolor No. 10 told the outlet that Saudi interest has been ongoing since the start of the year. “There is more than one team interested. Something good will certainly come for the player and for São Paulo,” he said.

The matter comes up less than two months after the Morumbi club officially renewed the striker’s contract until December 31, 2028, with targets set for an automatic extension until December 31, 2029. The 32-year-old player’s previous deal was set to expire at the end of this year.

The story is not new. Since 2023, Luciano’s name has appeared on the list of clubs interested from the Asian country. Two official contract offers were made that season, but despite making clear his dream of securing “the last big contract of his career,” the No. 10 weighed his status as an idol and decided to stay, going against his agents’ wishes.

Officially, São Paulo’s board does not comment on the matter and only says that nothing official has reached Morumbi.

Luciano arrived at Tricolor in August 2020 from Grêmio and quickly identified with the club. His calling card was finishing as one of the top scorers in that year’s Brazilian Championship, with the same 18 goals as Bragantino’s Claudinho.

The striker was the squad’s top scorer in 2023 (15 goals), 2024 (18 goals), and 2025 (17 goals). Curiously, these were not his highest-scoring seasons for the club: he found the net 21 times in 2020 and 2022, years in which the team scoring charts were led by Brenner (22 goals) and Calleri (27 goals), respectively.

This season, he already has seven goal contributions (four goals and three assists). Today, Luciano has 338 appearances and 106 goals for the club. He is already São Paulo’s 18th all-time top scorer, and the third-highest of this century, behind only Luis Fabiano (212 goals) and Rogério Ceni (112 goals).

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