How Abel sees the squad overhaul and Andreas Pereira’s arrival at Palmeiras | OneFootball

The Palmeiras underwent a deep restructuring of its squad in 2025. In total, 12 new players arrived at the club in the two transfer windows. Coach Abel Ferreira has pieces and replacements for almost all sectors of the squad and seems satisfied with the arrival of reinforcements.

With the arrival of so many names, it's natural that Palmeiras initially finds difficulties in gelling. Not surprisingly, Abel is striving to find the best fit for the team, and seems to have found it, especially with the attacking duo Vitor Roque and Flaco López. In the coach's view, Verdão now needs to achieve the "right" mentality.

"We have a squad with good players, with good reinforcements. We are trying to transform ourselves into a real team. It's not enough to just have good players, we need to have a team with the right mentality, as it was in the Derby. Coming to our opponent's home and doing everything, including pushing our opponent back and practically not letting them create," the coach evaluated after the classic.

Palmeiras hired 12 new players for this season. The fans, as usual, will always demand that the new reinforcements generate immediate returns. In Abel Ferreira's view, however, the scenario is clear. The alviverde board is building a team for the present, but especially for the future.

And the Portuguese coach is not wrong. Of the 12 players who arrived at the club in 2025, six are 25 years old or younger. The oldest reinforcement hired by Verdão this season is 30 years old.

"When you look at our team, I think if you do a little reflection exercise, you can understand that it's a team that has a present, but has a great future. It's a team for five, six years, where the club won't need to make many changes. That's what I had done with the team when I got here. I had been at the club for some time with a mix of players who moved up from the B team, but it was also necessary to rebalance the club's accounts," Abel explained.

"You saw what Leila and Barros said at one point, that we are a responsible team, that does things in a judicious way, without emotion, always looking at reason. And today, this allows us to sell a Ríos for 30 million euros and buy a player for 10 [million euros]," he continued.

How the new coach sees the arrival of Andreas Pereira

Andreas Pereira was, perhaps, the most 'hyped' reinforcement of Palmeiras in this second transfer window, which closed last Tuesday. The midfielder arrives at the club to replace the departure of Richard Ríos, sold to Benfica after the Club World Cup for 30 million euros (about R$ 194.6 million at the time).

Abel sees the signing of the midfielder positively. He praised President Leila Pereira for the "market opportunity" found. The player was signed permanently from Fulham for 10 million euros (about R$ 63 million).

"He's just another player. You know that we sold Ríos for a figure of 30 million euros. We bought him when nobody believed in him. We bet, valued and sold. Now, I think [Andreas] was a great market opportunity that our president [Leila Pereira] identified. He will help us throughout this year," Abel said.

"We exchanged a beautiful player for another one who comes from the Premier League, with experience, at the beginning of their season and halfway through ours. Let's see how he arrives, but I think it's not necessary to ask the coach if he likes this type of player or not. We all know the quality he can bring to our team, which has three, four players with experience, and a lot of youth. Therefore, it's a team with a present, but more than that, with a great future," he added.

Despite Abel's mystery about the physical condition of Andreas Pereira, the midfielder stated last Tuesday that he feels ready to play. He visited the facilities of the Football Academy, underwent physical evaluations and even revealed a conversation with the Portuguese.

Thus, the tendency is that the midfielder will be available for the commitment against Internacional, scheduled for the next September 13. The 29-year-old player has already been registered in the CBF's Daily Information Bulletin (BID) and is cleared to debut.

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