Arabs prepare huge bid for Pablo Maia, São Paulo await | OneFootball

Midfielder during a match in the current Brasileirão (Pedro Vilela/Getty Images)

RAFAEL EMILIANO@rafaelemilianoo

The transfer window for Brazilian football has closed, but the fact that some markets are still open is causing a certain stir at São Paulo. One day after Henrique do Carmo was sold to CSKA, Russia, now it’s midfielder Pablo Maia’s turn to face new interest.

According to Turkish journalist Ekrem Konur, a club from Saudi Arabia is preparing an offer of 15 million euros (about R$ 95.2 million) to the Tricolor for the player. The name of the interested party was not revealed. The window in the Asian country will remain open until Friday (12).

Pablo Maia recently renewed his contract with São Paulo until December 2029. At other times, he was Morumbi’s bet to make a big sale, on the level of Beraldo.

However, things changed with the series of injuries and surgeries the midfielder underwent. European interest, for example, cooled off.

Maia even had an offer from Fulham, England, rejected at the end of 2022. The value of the offer was close to 8 million euros (R$ 50.8 million). The following year, he received inquiries from Spanish club Betis, but the club ruled out starting talks as they were in the middle of the Copa do Brasil title race.

Internally, no one at São Paulo claims to have received even a single inquiry for their homegrown talent.

But, quietly, it’s known that an offer of this size would make the Tricolor directors think twice, and they wouldn’t hesitate to go through with the deal.

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