São Paulo turn to Paulinho, register 16-year-old after striker losses | OneFootball

Calleri, Ryan Francisco, André Silva, and Dinenno. São Paulo lost its four center forwards to serious knee injuries, with three of them needing surgery, and only André opting out of the procedure, despite the medical recommendation for surgery.

Thus, with the season already in its final stretch, with a little over a month left before Tricolor wraps up its activities for the year, the only option is to call for reinforcements from Cotia. Crespo, one of the great number 9s to have played football, insists on having at least one option for the position among his squad.

The player who has been pleasing the Argentine coach is the young Paulinho, top scorer of the under-20 team, who has already been training for some time at Barra Funda, as he did on Thursday morning (23), during another day of São Paulo’s activities at the training center.

The 20-year-old forward has scored 16 goals for the youth team this season, along with five assists. He was the hero of the grand final of the Copinha in January, replacing the injured Ryan Francisco, by scoring two goals, including the comeback goal against Corinthians, which secured the title of the main youth competition.

Paulinho has already been included in the squad for some Tricolor matches, but is still waiting for his professional debut, which could happen in the final rounds of the Brasileirão, since the club currently has no natural center forward.

Calleri continues his physical transition process at the club and, if he returns, will only play in São Paulo’s last matches in 2025.

EVEN TURNED TO THE UNDER-17s

With so much uncertainty and so many shortages, Tricolor has even turned to its under-17 squad, where Brenno stands out with beautiful and numerous goals. He already has 14 this season.

The 16-year-old forward is listed on São Paulo’s roster for this Brazilian Championship, as can be seen on the official CBF page. However, the young player’s name appears more as a safety measure for the club, already wary after so many setbacks with its athletes this year.

Brenno de Paula Junqueira da Silva is already 1.86m tall, is ambidextrous, and arrived in Cotia in 2023, at the age of 14. He quickly stood out for the under-15 team with many goals and was promoted to the higher category this season, where he continues to showcase his skill and precision.

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