Santos transfer window goes against advice from the Fiscal Council | OneFootball

Despite posting a deficit in the second quarter of 2025, Santos closed the transfer window with eight signings. This approach in the market, in fact, goes against what was suggested by the Fiscal Council in its latest report.

The body believes that it is necessary to reduce the wage bill. Therefore, it recommended the implementation of a cap proportional to guaranteed revenue and the prioritization of academy players.

The Alvinegro Praiano even started the window more cautiously, with targeted signings such as Willian Arão, Igor Vinícius, Mayke, and Caballero. The idea of Alexandre Mattos, the club's football executive, was to revive some players who were out of form.

On the field, however, Santos has been struggling. The team suffered a 6-0 thrashing by Vasco, right at Morumbis, and is now seriously threatened by the relegation zone.

Amid this scenario, the market strategy changed. The board hired coach Juan Pablo Vojvoda and, along with the Argentine, brought in four more names.

On the very last day of the window, Peixe announced the arrivals of Adonis Frías, Alexis Duarte, Victor Hugo, and Lautaro Díaz. The two center-backs join on a permanent basis, while the midfielder and forward were loaned from Flamengo and Cruzeiro, respectively.

And the academy?

Despite the recommendation to use the academy more, Santos reduced the number of homegrown players in the professional squad. The most significant loss was Luca Meirelles. The forward was sold to Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine.

In the club's last matches, in the 2-0 loss to Bahia and the 0-0 draw with Fluminense, only one Menino da Vila started: Bontempo (against the northeasterners) and Neymar (against the Rio team).

The arrival of two center-backs, in fact, increases the difficulty for the duo João Ananias and João Alencar, who had even caught the attention of the previous coaching staff, to play in the first team. Both are currently in the under-20 squad.

In midfield, Hyan, who even got a few minutes against Bahia, now sees Victor Hugo arrive and increase the competition. In attack, Santos has no Meninos da Vila options, since Luca Meirelles was sold and Deivis Washington was returned to Chelsea.

Santos' finances

The Administrative Accounting Report for the 2nd Quarter of 2025 showed a deficit of R$ 42,991,396. The budget had projected a deficit of R$ 38,823,657.

Meanwhile, revenue was R$ 123,731,899, against a budgeted R$ 81,716,548. Of this revenue, R$ 21,493,507 came from the sale of federative rights and loans, while the budget had projected R$ 0.00 from these sources.

Spending on the professional squad, which represents the largest portion of the club's payroll and includes salaries and image rights, decreased compared to the first quarter.

This reduction in June was mainly due to the reclassification of Neymar's image rights expense, the break for the Club World Cup (with the squad on vacation), and the departure of some players, such as Soteldo, Gabriel Veron, Jair, Leo Godoy, and Kevyson.

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