Short of cash: Marlon Freitas leaves Botafogo, joins rivals | OneFootball

If São Paulo still had any hope of signing midfielder Marlon Freitas from Botafogo, it was practically dashed this Friday (26).

The Tricolor had been in talks with some Botafogo players, in the early stages of a negotiation that could have involved several players. Marlon was one of them. He even liked an initial offer from the Morumbi club, but Palmeiras’ money seems likely to speak louder in the end.

AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR confirmed that Marlon Freitas reached an agreement with Botafogo to leave, but to accept the strong offer from Palmeiras, leaving São Paulo empty-handed.

According to information from Globo Esporte, the rival will pay around $6 million (R$ 33.2 million at the current exchange rate) to Botafogo to sign the 30-year-old player.

The AMT report had already revealed that the negotiation between São Paulo and Marlon was difficult to finalize. From the start of talks, Botafogo played hardball, as they intended to renew with their captain. But now, they should accept the offer from Palmeiras.

The ‘player swap’ with Botafogo

As we’ve already mentioned, Ferraresi really is on his way to General Severiano. São Paulo had already accepted Botafogo’s offer and the player is set to make the move. This, however, is the only deal defined so far.

Initially, Botafogo inquired about a third São Paulo player. After being turned down for Ferreirinha, they speculated about midfielder Rodriguinho. São Paulo was fine with it. But the staff of the young player, who came up through Cotia, didn’t like the idea. They prefer to keep him at Morumbi—at least until a European offer comes in (and there have been inquiries).

Now, the Rio club considers it certain that only two players will be swapped with the Tricolor. And they are trying to please the agents of Pablo Maia. But now they face strong competition from Cruzeiro, who could hijack the deal for the Made in Cotia player.

The difficulty lies on São Paulo’s side in attracting players from the black-and-white team. AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has already revealed that of the three names initially speculated by São Paulo, two—winger Savarino and midfielder Marlon Freitas—had been initially rejected.

Midfielder Savarino, if he has to leave the Rio club, wants to go to Atlético-MG, a club he has played for before and where Jorge Sampaoli, whom he considers a friend, now works.

The most desired name for Tricolor, however, is right-back Vitinho. Executive Rui Costa, however, was told by the player’s agents that he wants to wait until the end of his vacation to decide his future. In other words, he wants to wait until January. This is believed to be a strategic move, as his staff is waiting for inquiries from Europe.

To complicate matters further, a name suggested by Botafogo, forward Joaquín Correa, sparked interest and Costa opened talks with his staff. But he was told that at this moment, the Argentine has no interest in playing in São Paulo’s capital. A new meeting has been scheduled for the future with the player’s agents to try to move the deal forward and finally unlock the swap.

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