Flamengo claim ‘serious loss’ over Gerson’s Cruzeiro move in court

In partnership with

Coluna do Fla

·13 March 2026

Flamengo claim ‘serious loss’ over Gerson’s Cruzeiro move in court

Flamengo and Gerson in Legal Dispute Since Midfielder's Departure Last Year

On the field, Flamengo defeated Cruzeiro of Gerson last Wednesday (11). Off the field, the Most Beloved still has a long dispute against the midfielder. In court seeking more than R$ 40 million for the player's unilateral termination to sign with Zenit (RUS), the Rio club claims it suffered “serious damage” with the athlete's move to Cruzeiro in 2026.

“Flamengo invested historic figures, structured a long-term sports and marketing project, and associated its brand with the image of an athlete who, until then, was consolidating as an idol of its fans; however, it was abruptly deprived of any possibility of exploiting this intangible asset and now finds itself in the unusual position of watching the use of the same image — which, it should be noted, was built, valued, and projected while wearing the red and black mantle — by a direct rival,” said Flamengo, in a document obtained by ESPN. “Flamengo not only failed to enjoy the image of an athlete who symbolized recent achievements and strong identification with its fans, but also began to suffer an additional and qualitatively more severe loss: the public association of the athlete with a competing institution, which will benefit sportingly, commercially, and symbolically from an image that Flamengo helped decisively to build, without having reaped the corresponding economic return for the agreed and legitimately expected period,” the club added.

WHAT WERE FLAMENGO'S EXPENSES WITH GERSON?

In 2019, Flamengo signed Gerson from Roma (ITA) for R$ 50 million, with a salary of R$ 308,000 monthly, plus R$ 205,000 in image rights. Later, the midfielder returned to Europe, where he played for Olympique (FRA). In 2023, the Red and Black repatriated the athlete for R$ 90 million, with a salary of R$ 540,000 and R$ 360,000 in image rights. This amount increased to R$ 750,000 in April of last year, when the contract was renewed.

OneFootball Videos

Gerson agreed with Zenit (RUS) last year, on the eve of the game with Bayern (GER), a situation that Flamengo also uses as an argument in court. “Indeed, during the most important championship of the year, the Club World Cup — an event organized by FIFA between 14.6.25 and 13.7.25, Gerson negotiated his transfer to a Russian football club, Zenit, leaving Flamengo right after the championship ended and in the middle of the season,” pointed out Flamengo.

“What happened, indeed, was a unilateral termination of the contract, formalized by Gerson himself, through payment of the stipulated contractual fine. It was precisely to try to prevent an abrupt contractual termination that the provision of a significant fine was included, due by the party causing any termination,” reported Mengo.

HOW MUCH DOES FLAMENGO WANT FOR GERSON, AFTER ALL?

In summary, in the contract renewal in April, Flamengo included a clause with a compensatory fine in case of unilateral termination. It was agreed that whoever broke the bond would have to bear the “equivalent to the remaining balance of the contract” in image rights. Therefore, the Red and Black demands R$ 42.7 million from the company representing the player, led by the father and agent of the ‘Joker’, Marcão Santos.

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