São Paulo sign Vasco’s top midfield prospect after youth row | OneFootball

São Paulo has finalized the permanent signing of one of its young standout players from the under-20 category in Cotia. Matheus Ferreira, a midfielder on loan from Vasco, will be permanently acquired by Tricolor.

Having already played for the Brazilian Under-17 National Team, the 19-year-old athlete is on loan until the end of the year from Vasco, but after that, he will be purchased by São Paulo, which will exercise the stipulated purchase option, disburse R$ 1.5 million and sign a new contract with the talent in January 2026.

Matheus Ferreira even had to dispel recent rumors that he was dissatisfied at Tricolor and returning to Vasco. Putting an end to the controversies, he declared that he needed to go to Rio de Janeiro to resolve some personal issues, authorized by the club.

“I have a lot of respect and affection for São Paulo. At no point did I want to leave the club. I just had some personal problems in Rio de Janeiro, and the club supported me, gave me a few days to resolve them. After that, I returned to São Paulo, but I had some physical problems due to the loss of rhythm. With all the work from the physiotherapists, I was able to regain my physical form and I am prepared. Let's go, Tricolor!” said Matheus Ferreira at the end of August.

HE'S BACK TO STAY!

And he really has already returned to play for São Paulo, in the goalless draw with Oeste last Friday (19), in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Paulistão Under-20.

Matheus started in Vasco's youth categories as a child and stayed with the Rio club until the end of 2024, when he agreed to the loan to Tricolor. The midfielder did not hide his love for the team that revealed him and made a post thanking them on his social media this Tuesday (23).

Already nearing the age limit of 20 for the youth category, the athlete was signed also with an eye on opportunities in the professional team, currently led by Hernán Crespo. Matheus Ferreira caught the attention of the Tricolor technical staff in Cotia, who gave the positive nod for the permanent signing.

Standing at 1.81m tall, the midfielder showcases his technical quality and impressed with his tactical discipline, in addition to his great marking ability in midfield. This year, he played 23 games, with three assists distributed in the team. These attributes were also evaluated for the young player's potential future promotion, perhaps as soon as the next season.

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