São Paulo's Cotia gem sold for R$32m, among top young talents | OneFootball

The young right-back Angelo, a standout from São Paulo’s youth academy in Cotia, appeared this Tuesday (14th) on a list of the 60 best young football talents in the world, compiled by the traditional English newspaper ‘The Guardian’.

The English list features gems born in 2008, that is, from the 16-year-old generation, like the Tricolor athlete, who will turn 17 on October 20. Two other young Brazilian names were also highlighted: Gabriel Mec, an attacking midfielder from Grêmio, and Kauã Prates, a left-back from Cruzeiro.

“With impressive physical strength, São Paulo’s right-back stands out for being a complete player in his position. Besides his speed and good positioning, he has a quality that sets him apart from the rest,” praised the British publication, which even quoted São Paulo’s U-17 coach, Mário Ramalho, endorsing Angelo.

With frequent call-ups to Brazil’s youth national teams, Angelo was already sold by Tricolor in June to Strasbourg, France, for R$ 32 million. The French club belongs to the BlueCo group, the same group that manages Chelsea, likely the real future destination of the São Paulo gem in Europe. However, he will only transfer in January 2027, after turning 18.

The Guardian also highlighted that ‘Brazilian football has historically produced offensive full-backs with defensive weaknesses. But that is not the case with Angelo’.

THE PRODIGY’S VALUE

The exact value of the deal was 5 million euros (about R$ 32 million), to be paid in two annual installments (the first has already been paid). In addition, Tricolor could receive another 2 million euros (R$ 12.5 million) if the full-back plays at least 2,000 minutes for São Paulo’s first team before heading to Europe. The club also retained 12.5% of his economic rights.

Angelo Henrique Candido de Siqueira, born in Guarulhos, has always been at São Paulo, joining the U-11 team in 2019. He quickly began to stand out in all Cotia youth categories, impressing with his attacking prowess, technique, and goal-scoring record, despite being a full-back.

In the last U-17 South American Championship, he scored a header that took the grand final to penalties, with Brazil emerging as champions. In this year of 2025, he earned his first opportunities with Tricolor’s U-20 team, where he has already scored a goal and provided two assists.

OPINION

He is without a doubt yet another great talent that São Paulo loses for a real pittance, as the club needs to balance its books amidst the deep and eternal debt it has sunk even deeper into under the current management of president Julio Casares.

Angelo is the best Brazilian right-back in his age group, and not just recently, he will shine in Europe and be sold for tens of millions of euros, and Tricolor will have to settle for the crumbs it will receive from transfers only thanks to FIFA’s solidarity mechanism for player development.

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