São Paulo defender wants exit to join Paulista rival | OneFootball

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR revealed on Monday (3), the staff of defender Matheus Belém, 22 years old, is trying to negotiate a contract termination with São Paulo’s management. And the reason, according to the report, is an offer the player has to join Portuguesa for the upcoming Campeonato Paulista.

According to sources consulted by AMT, the São Paulo capital rival has been in talks with them to announce him as a reinforcement. If Belém cannot secure his release, Lusa’s plan is to negotiate a loan deal with Tricolor. However, they want the player released early so he can start preseason with the rest of the squad and begin 2026 in better physical shape.

The defender has not been officially listed for a match since April of last year and is currently training separately from the group.

Yes, the player developed in Cotia is still part of Tricolor’s professional squad. But he hasn’t played in a match for a very, very long time (read more below).

Belém has been training at different times from the rest of the squad and is not part of the club’s plans. With a contract until the end of next year, his staff’s goal is to achieve an amicable contract termination. This would make it easier for him to find a new destination in football.

Sources consulted by AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR indicate that despite the defender’s situation—completely sidelined and recently venting on social media—the atmosphere with management is calm. There is an inclination, even as a cost-cutting measure, for the management to accept the request.

UNDERSTAND THE CASE

One of the blessings of living in times of widespread digital inclusion is having abundant audiovisual material at our disposal, which allows us, above all, to immortalize memories and have historical documentary evidence of facts or events that occurred.

Football fits into this folklore: matches, plays, goals, and especially players from the last century who were lost due to technological limitations in image recording. What remains are written or oral accounts that, over time and generations, generate more feelings of doubt and amusement than actually fulfilling their historical documentary function.

One of the cases from these new times that would certainly become a story worthy of truly archaeological work by competent and effective São Paulo historians and researchers is that of defender Matheus Belém. If we weren’t living in times of social media and digital photos, it would be hard to prove that he actually played professionally for the Morumbi club.

And for good reason. Raised in Tricolor’s youth academy, Belém hasn’t played a football match for almost two years. Mind you, not just professionally for São Paulo Futebol Clube, but for ANY team.

Matheus Belém has been training separately from the São Paulo squad since mid-April, when he was returned from his loan to Chapecoense, which was formalized at the start of the year and was supposed to last until December, but was suddenly ended due to a successful overhaul by the Santa Catarina club, now a favorite for promotion in Série B, but at the time winless in the competition and facing turmoil behind the scenes. There, the young defender sat on the bench for three matches but did not play.

Internally, the Belém case is a mystery. Promoted to the first team by Rogério Ceni at the end of 2022, he received the same treatment as Beraldo: he would train for a year at Barra Funda, while also playing in Cotia, to gain experience. Both, in fact, had similarities pointed out, as they are left-footed.

A stroke of luck similar to what is happening now—when there was a shortage of defenders in the squad—allowed Belém to skip a few steps the following year. He made his debut right away in the classic against Santos, on February 12, in the Campeonato Paulista, coming on during the match after Alan Franco was injured.

While Beraldo established himself in the starting lineup with the arrival of Dorival Júnior, Belém followed the previously outlined plan of training with the first team and playing for the under-20s. He reappeared in the team against Bragantino in the Brasileirão on July 9, when the reserves were fielded between the matches against rivals Palmeiras in the Copa do Brasil quarterfinals. He would get a golden opportunity against América-MG on August 6, when once again injuries and absences led to his selection. That was the last time he played professionally.

The good impression he left under pressure excited the fans and created a dilemma, as Belém’s contract with Tricolor was due to expire at the end of 2023. The player even verbally agreed to a pre-contract with Bragantino, which required behind-the-scenes work by the management with the interior club to reverse the situation, creating some internal friction. The defender stayed. The regret did too.

Now, with a contract until the end of 2026, Belém has officially become the last option for the position. He still had some standing with Thiago Carpini, spending eight games on the bench with the former coach in the first half of 2024, but as soon as Luis Zubeldía arrived, his appearances vanished, leaving only training images captured by the club’s press office.

His departure was considered a given. And it did happen. But the lack of opportunities in Santa Catarina highlighted that Belém’s development may not have happened as hoped.

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