Spoken to Arboleda? Artur and Rafael update on missing São Paulo defender | OneFootball

With defender Arboleda’s situation still completely unresolved at São Paulo, the matter remains on the club’s agenda. After the team’s 2-0 win over O’Higgins at Morumbi this Tuesday (14), the situation involving the missing Ecuadorian was discussed in the stadium corridors.

One of the standout players in the Copa Sudamericana match, Artur scored his first goal for Tricolor after arriving midway through the season. And the forward was also asked whether he knows anything about Arboleda.

“No (we haven’t spoken with Arboleda). I had never worked with him; I arrived and he was already here, that’s all. He’s a really good guy, but I honestly don’t have that information,” winger Artur said in the mixed zone at Morumbi.

The issue is now really out of the players’ hands. Captain and one of Tricolor’s leaders, goalkeeper Rafael had already said that the squad tried to help, as much as they could. Now, the matter is solely in the hands of São Paulo’s board.

“We don’t have any update. It’s a conversation that I think has been taking place between the board and the player. At this point it’s an institutional matter; it’s not up to us players or the coaching staff. It’s really in the board’s hands together with him. We hope it gets resolved in the best possible way for all parties,” said the keeper.

“We haven’t had any contact with him after he went to Ecuador; it’s more the club that has been in contact, and we don’t even know how that’s going. We just hope and root for a good outcome, because we like Arboleda and we also care about São Paulo. I hope they can sort it out as soon as possible and reach a situation that works for both sides,” Rafael concluded.

HOW ARE THE NEGOTIATIONS GOING?

Pepe Chamurro, Arboleda’s agent, contacted São Paulo on Monday morning (13) with a proposal authorized by the 34-year-old defender, who has not shown up at the club for more than a week, to terminate his contract once and for all.

According to information obtained by AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR, Arboleda offered to waive the amounts he is still owed, including overdue payments, salaries, and signing bonuses through the end of his contract in 2027, in order to secure his release. In other words, the Ecuadorian proposed an amicable “clean break”: he would leave the club without receiving a cent of what he is still entitled to.

It may sound tempting, but the fact is that São Paulo did not even want to discuss the “proposal” with his camp, for two reasons. The first, obviously, is that the club demands Arboleda’s presence at the Barra Funda training center to discuss the matter. It will not accept handling this virtually, partly out of respect, as stated.

But of course it goes beyond that. One of the points mentioned to the report by sources from São Paulo’s top brass is that the board suspects Arboleda may already have offers in hand to sign a new contract as soon as he is free. They even know that rivals such as Santos are keeping an eye on the player. Given the situation, they do not want to make things easier.

Although president Harry Massis Júnior internally spoke of an immediate dismissal, the legal department is lowering the temperature and does not view a possible unilateral termination—with a fine charged to the player or a future club—as a simple matter. A legal dispute does not offer total certainty at this point. The club knows it has no way of getting money out of the debt-ridden Arboleda. And that the matter would drag on for years. This is all involving a 34-year-old player close to retirement.

At the Barra Funda training center, the path that seems most plausible right now is for Arboleda to return first, and only then for talks to begin over a move to another club. Football executives have already told the agent that they want him training separately (after all, he no longer plays for Tricolor).

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