Portuguese base? After defender, São Paulo target versatile full-back | OneFootball

São Paulo has begun formal talks to sign 29-year-old right-back Aurélio Buta.

Available on the market after the end of his contract with Copenhagen of Denmark, where he was on loan from Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt, the defender came onto the club’s radar after receiving a favorable assessment and approval from São Paulo’s market analysis department and coaching staff.

The progress of the talks indicates that the club’s football leadership sees the deal as a strategic market opportunity.

Because the player is currently without a club, São Paulo will not need to make a financial outlay to acquire his economic rights, focusing its financial structure strictly on a signing bonus and salary terms.

Profile and tactical versatility

Born in Miconge, Angola, and naturalized Portuguese, Buta built his entire professional career in European football.

Developed in Benfica’s youth academy, the full-back gained international recognition while playing for Belgium’s Royal Antwerp, where he turned professional and performed well enough to earn a move to Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt, before his most recent spell in Danish football.

The main factor that drew the interest of the coaching staff led by Dorival Júnior is the player’s versatility. Originally a right-back, Buta has the physical and technical qualities to perform multiple roles on the pitch:

Right wing-back: Providing attacking support in tactical systems with three center-backs;

Winger (right side): Operating in more advanced attacking lines;

Right center-back: Helping build out from the back in a three-man defensive line.

Status of the talks

Negotiations between São Paulo’s board and the representatives of the Portuguese-Angolan player are still ongoing, with no final outcome yet.

The feasibility of the deal depends on adapting the demands over contract length and monthly wages to the club’s financial ceiling.

If the move is completed, Aurélio Buta will arrive to strengthen the position and offer important structural variations for the remainder of the season’s competitions.

The news of the talks with Buta comes on the same day that Tricolor moved closer to signing another Portuguese player, center-back Domingos Duarte.

Meanwhile, the squad’s current Portuguese representative, right-back Cédric Soares, appears set to leave Morumbi after not even reporting back with the rest of the squad for training.

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