São Paulo sound out ex-Portugal international, but fee cools interest | OneFootball

With ten days left before the transfer window closes, São Paulo is trying to make moves behind the scenes to address the final priorities for strengthening the squad, following head coach Dorival Júnior’s requests for signings. And one of the areas being monitored was midfield.

One of the names sounded out by football executive Rafinha in recent days was Otávio. The 31-year-old attacking midfielder came through at Internacional, but made history with Porto, even becoming naturalized and representing the Portuguese national team.

The information was initially partially reported by the page ‘Radar da Bola’ and confirmed to AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR by sources within São Paulo’s top brass.

He currently plays for Al-Qadsiah of Saudi Arabia, with whom he has a contract until the end of next year, including an automatic renewal clause through 2028.

According to the page, Tricolor had already made a loan offer to bring in the player. But our reporting found that things are not nearly that advanced. Quite the opposite.

AMT was told that there had only been an initial inquiry, since he is a name flagged by the scouting department and approved by Dorival. But with a market value of 10 million euros (about R$ 59.8 million), the deal could only move forward as a loan.

And that is where the complications begin, because Otávio, besides being happy at his current club, where he earns a salary Tricolor could never afford (he makes around 14 million euros per season at Al-Qadsiah, equivalent to about R$ 7 million per month), also has a career goal of returning to Portugal after leaving Saudi Arabia.

In other words, to be very direct, it is a name beyond the club’s reality and was quickly ruled out internally. The club continues to look for market opportunities to strengthen Dorival’s squad in this final stretch of the transfer window.

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