Corinthians academy striker returns after more than four months | OneFootball

On Sunday night (2), Corinthians visited Internacional at Beira-Rio Stadium for the first leg of the Copa do Brasil round of 16 and was beaten 2-0. The negative result means Timão will have to win by at least two goals in the return leg to take the tie to penalties. If that does not happen, they will be eliminated.

The match marked the return of 19-year-old forward Gui Negão to the pitch for Timão’s senior team for the first time since March 22. On that day, he replaced midfielder Breno Bidon in the second half and played 12 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Flamengo at Neo Química Arena, in the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

During that period, the player suffered a grade 2 muscle injury in his right thigh during a Brazil U-20 training session in the March FIFA window, and was only called up again at the beginning of May, but had still not returned to the field since Fernando Diniz arrived, hired in early April to replace Dorival Júnior.

Since then, he had not played, but was on the bench in matches against (A – Brasileirão), Santa Fe-COL (A – Libertadores), São Paulo (H – Brasileirão), Botafogo (A – Brasileirão), Peñarol-URU (A – Libertadores), Grêmio (A – Brasileirão), FC Cascavel (A – friendly), and Athletico-PR (H – Brasileirão). With no space in the senior squad until then, he was even used by the U-20 team, coached by William Batista, in both legs of the Brazilian Championship quarterfinals against Palmeiras in July.

Against Internacional, the Son of Terrão got his first chance for Corinthians after a few months amid the absence of Yuri Alberto, who is recovering from a muscle injury in the back of his right thigh, and Memphis Depay, who is still negotiating a contract renewal with the club.

According to Sofascore, the sports statistics app, Gui, who was on the field for 72 minutes before being replaced by Pedro Raul, posted the following numbers during the match: one shot, one big chance missed, 4/5 accurate passes (80%), 12 touches, one foul won, 2/2 tackles won (100%), two defensive contributions, and 3/5 ground duels won (80%). His rating on the app was 6.5.

Gui Negão began receiving opportunities in Corinthians’ senior squad in mid-2025, when the team was managed by Dorival Júnior. At the time, Alvinegro was under a FIFA transfer ban, meaning it was prohibited from registering signings, in addition to injuries to Yuri Alberto and Memphis Depay, forcing the club to rely on players developed in its youth ranks.

Initially, the youngster delivered standout performances, proving decisive for Corinthians in the Copa do Brasil quarterfinals against Athletico-PR, playing an important tactical role and also being useful to the team in Brazilian Championship matches. However, toward the end of 2025, his form dipped and he started being used less often. In 2026, for example, he has made 13 appearances and scored just one goal.

As for his overall numbers, Gui Negão has six goals and two assists in 37 matches for Timão, with 16 wins, four draws, and 15 defeats — a 48% success rate. In addition, he has won two titles: the Copa do Brasil (2025) and the Supercopa do Brasil (2026), against Vasco da Gama and Flamengo, respectively. His contract runs until June 2030, with a domestic release clause of R$ 140 million and an international one set at 100 million euros (approximately R$ 600 million at the current exchange rate).

For Corinthians’ U-17 and U-20 teams, he scored 24 goals in 101 matches — 55 wins, 29 draws, and 27 defeats. In the youth setup, his most notable title was the 2023 Paulista U-17 Championship against São Paulo, in a team that featured names such as Luiz Gustavo Bahia, André Luiz, and Dieguinho — the latter two are with Gui in the senior squad.

With Gui Negão getting minutes again and Yuri Alberto still unavailable, Corinthians will return to action next Thursday (6) at 8 p.m. (Brasília time) to face Internacional once again at Neo Química Arena in the second leg of the Copa do Brasil round of 16.

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