São Paulo reject Vitória bid, use Arboleda in Botafogo deal | OneFootball

São Paulo definitively ended talks on Wednesday (27) with Vitória over sending defender Arboleda out on loan.

According to what AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned, the Bahia-based club contacted São Paulo again during the morning with a new offer, this time proposing to pay the full salary of the 34-year-old player through the end of this season.

It was the second time Vitória had spoken with Tricolor about Arboleda. Last weekend, representatives of an adult entertainment website that sponsors the Salvador (BA) side led the talks to sign the Ecuadorian, who has been sidelined after abandoning the team for a month. On that occasion, they suggested paying half of his wages, in addition to a fee for the temporary transfer.

São Paulo’s refusal led one of Vitória’s directors to make a curious statement to local beat reporters, aiming to cool the expectations of the red-and-black supporters.

Internally, the deal was not initially seen by São Paulo as one of the worst options, after all, the Bahia side would be an excellent showcase (especially because of its strong Brazilian Championship campaign). But there are reasons why it is being turned down…

The main one involves other clubs interested in Arboleda. As AMT has already revealed, the defender’s camp openly says there is interest from Saudi football in him.

But Vitória is not the only club monitoring him in Brazil. São Paulo was approached in recent days by people from Botafogo, who wanted to know about his situation. That encouraged Tricolor’s directors, since the Morumbi club has midfielder Newton on the list of players requested by coach Dorival Júnior.

Initial talks took place over a swap involving the two names, but São Paulo has run into the structure of the deal. While the Rio club is prioritizing a permanent sale of the player, Tricolor, which is going through a delicate financial situation, is trying to make a loan deal viable and is studying how to structure the proposal without compromising its budget.

This season, Newton has played 17 matches for Botafogo and scored one goal, even filling in as a center-back before losing space in the squad.

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