No deal for midfielder, Santos end window with six signings

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Gazeta Esportiva.com

·30 March 2026

No deal for midfielder, Santos end window with six signings

Last Friday, the first transfer window of Brazilian football came to an end. Looking to build a competitive squad to avoid more scares in the Brazilian Championship and compete for titles again, Santos was active in the market and closed the period with six signings, despite failing to finalize negotiations for Newton, a Botafogo defensive midfielder, in the final hours of the window.

Talks between Peixe and Glorioso did not end positively and, at least for now, the player will not join the São Paulo side this season. The tight deadline for the deal contributed to the negative outcome.

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Signings

The first player to join Santos in 2026 was Gabigol, who returned to the club where he came through the ranks on a one-season loan from Cruzeiro. He took over Peixe’s No. 9 shirt and is the club’s top scorer this year, with seven goals in 12 matches. He also has two assists.

The next to be signed were Gabriel Menino and Rony, who arrived after negotiations with Atlético-MG. A one-year loan deal was agreed for the midfielder, while the forward joined permanently on a three-year contract.

Gabriel Menino became an option both as a defensive midfielder and at right-back and has made 14 appearances for Santos, scoring two goals, exactly the same numbers as Rony for Peixe.

Next, Santos strengthened the squad with forward Moisés, formerly of Fortaleza, and defensive midfielder Christian Oliva, who had been playing for Nacional-URU. Both signed three-year deals with Peixe and have made 12 and seven appearances for the club, respectively.

The last to arrive was center-back Lucas Veríssimo, who is also returning to his boyhood club. The 30-year-old defender belonged to Al-Duhail of Qatar and returned on a permanent deal with a three-season contract. So far, he has only played once for Santos.