Neymar mentioned as São Paulo told: You want stars but won’t pay | OneFootball

Marcos Leonardo celebrates a goal for Al Hilal in the Club World Cup (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

RAFAEL EMILIANO@rafaelemilianoo

In the more than 15 hours in total, combined, that the meetings lasted which did not end up sealing Marcos Leonardo's transfer to São Paulo, at no point did Al Hilal, with whom the forward has a contract until June 2029, show any openness to release the player without any form of financial compensation.

This is the outcome revealed by sources consulted by AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR on the morning of this Wednesday (3).

Despite all the efforts made by the player himself, who through his staff formalized the offer to waive the salaries, signing bonuses, and bonuses he was entitled to receive at the Saudi club until December in exchange for the loan to Tricolor, Al Hilal, in the end, proved to be inflexible.

"You Brazilians want the players but don't want to pay for them. Marcos cost us a lot. The least you can do is offer something to make this conversation make sense," said a representative of Al Hilal in one of the tensest moments of the talks held last Tuesday (2), according to sources heard by the report.

This same representative, by the way, recalled Neymar's controversial departure from the club, who terminated his contract to sign with Santos at the beginning of the year. In a somewhat similar case, the star of the rival team decided to leave Al Hilal after not being registered to play in the Saudi Championship.

In an equally tense negotiation, the Saudis refused to loan the player to the coastal team, and the situation was only resolved with the intervention of the Saudi League and Neymar's decision to waive part of what he was still owed by Al Hilal.

"At a certain point, they mentioned Neymar and how Brazilian clubs negotiate with players without having the release or being advanced in the negotiations for the release," said a source.

The truth is that the São Paulo directors spoke little more than necessary with the Saudis. Except for one or two explanations, where they highlighted the positive aspect of Marcos Leonardo being at Morumbi until December, constantly playing in a major showcase and with the potential to be called up for the Brazilian National Team, the conversations were dominated by the player's own staff. This led to discussions when it was emphasized that the forward does not want to stay at the club given the current scenario, where he is in a dispute with coach Simone Inzaghi and is out of the registered list for the Saudi League.

Three times throughout the day, São Paulo raised the bar for Marcos Leonardo. In the highest offer, so to speak, the Morumbi club offered the value of the forward's salaries in Arabia from September to December as payment for the release. The response, frankly, was a harsh reality for Tricolor's current financial standards.

"We have more advantageous offers for the player," claimed one of the Saudi club's representatives, according to sources. These interested parties would be from markets where the transfer window remains open and with greater investment power than São Paulo, such as Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine.

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