Clear-out starts: pay row sees São Paulo shop Alan Franco to Mexico | OneFootball

Argentine center-back Alan Franco is leaving São Paulo to join Tigres of Mexico.

The 29-year-old defender will move on a one-season loan deal, which also includes an option for a permanent transfer at the end of the period.

The agreement between the clubs is sealed, with only the exchange of signed documents remaining to make the deal official.

The financial structure of the transfer was set up on the following terms:

Loan fee: The Mexican club will pay 500 thousand dollars (around R$ 2.5 million);

Purchase option: The fee for the permanent acquisition of his economic rights was set at 1.5 million dollars (approximately R$ 7.6 million);

Outstanding payments: As part of the agreement to make the transfer possible, Alan Franco gave up the full amount of overdue payments he was owed by São Paulo.

Internal strain and loss of space under Dorival

The defender’s departure, after playing at Morumbi since 2023, had been taking shape since May, following the appointment of coach Dorival Júnior.

During the coach’s previous spell, which ended with the Copa do Brasil title, Franco was underused and nearly left midway through that season, in his first year at São Paulo, on loan to Boca Juniors.

The player’s desire to leave was driven by technical and administrative factors. There had been financial strain between the parties due to delayed payments, a situation that led the player’s camp to consider taking the case to FIFA to recover the contractual amounts owed.

At the same time, the center-back believed he would get limited playing time under the new coaching staff, a scenario similar to the one he faced during Dorival’s previous stint at the club.

The formal transfer request was submitted while Rui Costa — the football executive who was recently dismissed — was still in charge, and the negotiation was ultimately completed under the interim management of Rafinha and Felipe Carvalho.

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