José Boto sets out Flamengo’s transfer strategy for 2026

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·22 December 2025

José Boto sets out Flamengo’s transfer strategy for 2026

What did José Boto say about Flamengo’s upcoming signings?

After a historic season in 2025, Flamengo is planning to maintain its high level in 2026. The club’s football director, Mengão, José Boto commented on the club’s next transfer window and revealed the profile of signings for the Rubro-Negro.

— The South American market is, at this moment, small for what Flamengo really is. This doesn’t mean there aren’t players with a lot of potential. But at Flamengo you have to bring in players who are ready for the pressure, because that has a big influence. If you don’t handle the pressure of a packed Maracanã, of an aggressive press every day, you’re going to have difficulties,” he said, before concluding:

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— Besides that, there’s also an idea of bringing in a more European culture. Having these references, like Danilo, Jorginho, Alex Sandro, that influences the others. This is one of the ideas that’s part of the recruitment standard, it’s not just about technical and tactical terms, but also at the level of mentality,” Boto concluded, in an interview with the podcast ‘No começo era a bola’.

How much does Flamengo plan to invest?

It’s worth noting that Flamengo is expected to reach a historic revenue in 2025, approaching R$ 2 billion in income. President Bap even surprised many by considering investing R$ 1 billion in the next transfer window.

If I have to spend R$ 1 billion to keep winning everything, I can spend it. One thing is wanting to spend and not being able to because you can’t pay. The decision to spend only has consequences, you have to have the money to pay — said Bap, to ‘FlamengoTV’.

What are Flamengo’s priorities for the next transfer window?

Meanwhile, Flamengo already has some recruitment priorities defined: a goalkeeper, a center-back, a midfielder, a winger, and a striker. Thus, the names of Gabriel Brazão, from Santos, and Vitão, from Internacional, are starting to appear on the Rubro-Negro’s radar.

After investing almost R$ 300 million in the last transfer window, Flamengo does not intend to make any ‘crazy’ moves at the start of 2026. Therefore, Mengão is focused on making only targeted signings, while trying to keep the core of the current team.

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