Without Rui Costa, São Paulo move to unblock Newton deal with Botafogo | OneFootball

With Rui Costa’s dismissal and Rafinha’s interim promotion as the new head of football, São Paulo will make one final attempt to unlock negotiations with Botafogo to sign defensive midfielder Newton, a player requested by coach Dorival Júnior.

According to what AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned, Rafinha will suggest a financial arrangement to the Rio club. São Paulo’s initial plan to permanently transfer center-back Ferraresi to Botafogo is back on the table — but in a new format.

At the start of this year, Ferraresi was loaned to Botafogo until the end of the year for a fee of 800,000 euros (around R$5 million). The contract signed between the parties includes a purchase option set at 6 million euros (approximately R$38 million).

Tricolor backed away from a straight swap involving the Venezuelan because it believed the values did not match.

Botafogo insists on releasing Newton only with a purchase clause set at 5 million euros (around R$29.4 million). São Paulo offered 3 million euros (approximately R$17.7 million), which was rejected.

Given this, after backing away from a direct swap between the players, Tricolor plans to suggest a financial arrangement: permanently transfer Ferraresi. And the remaining “credit” would be used to reduce Artur’s price.

The club’s most significant signing of the year, Artur arrived on loan until the end of the year, with a purchase clause for 60% of Artur’s economic rights set at 6 million euros (around R$36.2 million), with payments scheduled to begin in January 2027.

In other words, if Botafogo releases Newton, it would receive Ferraresi. And as “change,” the Morumbi club would deduct the remaining 1 million euros for Artur’s purchase based on the valuation assigned to the players.

The offer is expected to be presented by São Paulo during this Tuesday (23).

Initially, Tricolor does not want to lose the deal for two reasons. First: Newton was an explicit request from Dorival Júnior, who wants a tall player with strong marking ability. In addition, the player has given a positive signal through his entourage about a move to Morumbi.

The midfielder has played 17 matches for Botafogo this season and scored one goal. Under Martín Anselmi, he was even used out of position in defense. Under Franclim Carvalho, however, he lost space and featured in only three matches, starting two of them.

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