Fortaleza chief on Corinthians talks, ‘heated’ chats with Paz

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Central do Timão

·22 de enero de 2026

Fortaleza chief on Corinthians talks, ‘heated’ chats with Paz

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

Corinthians has been engaging in some negotiations with Fortaleza during this transfer window. The Alvinegro has secured the arrival of midfielder Matheus Pereira (27 years old) on loan until the end of this season and, on the other hand, has loaned out midfielder Ryan, who was developed in the Corinthians youth academy, under the same terms, until the end of 2026.

It is worth noting that Corinthians has Marcelo Paz as the football executive, who played an important role in restructuring the northeastern team between 2015 and 2025. In an interview with ge.globo, Bruno Cals, president of the SAF Council of Fortaleza, detailed the negotiations between the two clubs in recent weeks.

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Photo: Matheus Lotif/Fortaleza EC

“We made a negotiation composition with Corinthians regarding the loan with a purchase option for Matheus Pereira, the loan of João Ricardo, and also the arrival of Ryan. The clubs have already reached a commercial agreement on this. João Ricardo is a great goalkeeper, Matheus Pereira is a great athlete. Can I keep both with the financial cost of each? I cannot. I will not be irresponsible to keep the athlete here and then not pay,” he began.

In addition to Matheus Pereira and Ryan, Corinthians has also arranged for the arrival of goalkeeper João Ricardo, 37 years old, on loan until the end of this season. However, the goalkeeper is recovering from an injury and will only be able to join Alvinegro after completing his medical reports. The expectation is that the athlete will arrive at Parque São Jorge in March.

It is worth remembering that Fortaleza was relegated to the Série B of the Brasileirão and needs to reduce its payroll to compete in the national second division. As previously reported by Central do Timão, the club from Parque São Jorge will pay R$ 1.8 million for the loan of Matheus Pereira until the end of 2026 in ten installments of R$ 180,000. If they want to acquire him permanently, according to UOL Esporte, they will have to shell out two million dollars. According to the newspaper OPovo, Corinthians will cover 100% of the salaries of midfielder Ryan.

“We made a negotiation composition where we brought in an athlete with very good technical quality, evaluated by football, and we made the loan, in the case of Matheus Pereira, with a purchase option, with this loan being costly and Corinthians will pay a monthly amount to the club. In a single negotiation, we managed to adjust our goalkeeper base to the financial reality, bring resources to the club, and eventually, much more resources in the future if Corinthians effectively exercises the purchase option for Matheus Pereira. Thus, we managed to advance within this restructuring we are talking about,” he continued.

The Fortaleza executive also revealed that Marcelo Paz was responsible for conducting the negotiations between Corinthians and Fortaleza, along with the CEO of the northeastern team, Pedro Martins. Bruno also revealed a 'heated' discussion with the Corinthians football executive.

“Marcelo Paz is from Corinthians and negotiated directly with Pedro Martins. I got involved with him in a negotiation when the deal stalled. In a very respectful manner, we had a very heated discussion because we were defending what we thought was best for the club. And we managed to reach a composition that we deemed beneficial for the club,” he concluded.

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