Leonardo Jardim admits trying to bring two Flamengo players to Cruzeiro | OneFootball

Which Flamengo players did Leonardo Jardim try to take to Cruzeiro in 2025?

Leonardo Jardim gave an interview to the press this Thursday (05), after being hired as the new coach of Flamengo. During the press conference, the coach revealed that he tried to take two players from the red-black club to Cruzeiro in 2025, when he was in charge of the Minas Gerais team: Luiz Araújo and Matheus Gonçalves.

— I didn't want to swap Matheus Pereira for Luiz Araújo because they are different players. But we definitely tried to bring him in to strengthen our squad, but Flamengo did not authorize it. The same happened with Matheus Gonçalves, we had few technically skilled players to add different qualities to the team -, he said.

WHEN DID CRUZEIRO TRY TO SIGN FLAMENGO'S PLAYERS?

The attempt by Cruzeiro to sign Luiz Araújo came to light in February 2025. At the time, Flamengo did not release the right winger, stating that they would not negotiate players considered important. It is worth noting that the number 7 was frequently used by Filipe Luís, although he never held an undisputed starting position.

On the other hand, Matheus Gonçalves did get some minutes with the former coach. However, the red-black club ended up selling the player in August of last year to Al-Ahli (SAU) for R$ 50 million.

WHAT NOW?

With his arrival at Flamengo, Leonardo Jardim will have the opportunity to coach Luiz Araújo. So far, the forward has played six matches in 2026, totaling 257 minutes on the field and scoring one goal, while competing for the right wing spot with Gonzalo Plata.

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