Late in the window, São Paulo sign promising full-back from England | OneFootball

In the final hours of the transfer window, São Paulo secured the signing of 20-year-old right-back Pedro Lima, who belongs to Wolverhampton, of England.

The young player, who came through at Sport, arrives at Morumbi on a loan deal valid until the end of the current season, with appearance-based clauses that could automatically extend the contract until May next year. For that to happen, he will need to play in at least 50% of Tricolor’s matches during that period.

The deal was completed with no transfer fee for the Morumbi club. In addition, the English club will cover 60% of the player’s wages during the loan spell.

Loss of space in England and bureaucratic procedures

The promising youngster’s departure from English football came after Wolverhampton signed experienced full-back Kieran Trippier, a former England international, which reduced Pedro Lima’s role in the first-team rotation.

Last European season, he had already been loaned to Porto, but he also struggled to earn playing time and ended up featuring for the Portuguese club’s B team.

With the agreement aligned between the boards, the completion of the deal now depends on the finalization of the bureaucratic procedures in the Transfer Matching System (TMS), FIFA’s system responsible for registering international transfers.

After the documents are validated in the system, São Paulo will collect the contract signatures to register and make the player eligible for domestic and continental competitions.

Signing a full-back was not one of São Paulo’s priorities, but Aurélio Buta’s injury led the club to look in the market for an immediate backup for the position. Currently, the starter is Lucas Ramon, who joined Tricolor at the start of this season. Also available for the role is promising youngster Igor Felisberto, since the club loaned Maik to Slovak football.

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