São Paulo eye Palmeiras prospect in Qatar, but guess what? Fees scare | OneFootball

In addition to Thiago Maia, a player with whom it has been holding close talks, as AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR previously reported, São Paulo is also looking to fulfill another request from Roger Machado involving a former player coached by him during his time at Internacional: Wesley.

The 27-year-old player, who operates as a winger on both sides of the pitch and can also play as a second striker, came through rivals Palmeiras. Although he enjoyed a certain degree of trust from coach Abel Ferreira, he never truly won over the fans on the other side of the wall.

Wesley has been playing for Qatar’s Al-Rayyan since September last year, after being sold by the club from Rio Grande do Sul for 8.5 million euros (around R$ 49.6 million). There, he signed a four-year contract, but he would be open to returning to Brazil to play for the Tricolor.

The reason for the mutual interest between the parties, besides Roger’s trust—under whom Wesley had the best spell of his career—is the closeness the Morumbi club has built with his agent, the same one who represents Artur. The relative success of the No. 37 in São Paulo’s current system, which favors wingers, could boost the former Palmeiras player’s name, the report heard.

In fact, Wesley has reasons to want a change of scenery. After a blazing start with the Qatari side last year, he has lost some space this season and was even left out of the squad for a few matches. Overall, he has five goals and three assists in 15 games in the Arab world.

Using the argument of increasing the player’s value will be São Paulo’s tactic to try, perhaps, to convince Al-Rayyan to accept a loan deal. That is because a permanent transfer is off the table. The club wants to recover a good part of the investment it made.

Moreover, Al-Rayyan does not have a history of making negotiations with São Paulo easy. In 2024, the club even reached an agreement on wages with defensive midfielder Thiago Mendes, now at Vasco, but the Qataris did not want to bring forward his release even though he was nearing the end of his contract and had no prospect of being used more regularly.

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