Mirassol director Paulinho on club interest, targets Libertadores | OneFootball

Paulinho has become one of the great idols in Corinthians’ recent history. A multi-title winner with the club, he reached the Brazilian National Team, played in the World Cup, and was Messi’s teammate at Barcelona. Now, off the field, he continues to make history, this time as executive director of Mirassol, one of the best teams in Brazilian football in 2025.

Still as a player, Paulinho had to deal with injuries that marked the final stretch of his career. Sidelined from the pitch, he sought to study, already thinking about what he would do after hanging up his boots. He fell in love with football management and received a golden opportunity to start his journey off the field.

In an exclusive interview with Gazeta Esportiva, Paulinho shared what this new experience has been like and how he has been handling this early success at the helm of Mirassol, currently sixth in the Brazilian Championship in their debut season in the national elite.

“It’s a role where you have to be on top of everything every day, always updating yourself, because the football market is very dynamic. But I prepared for this moment, I’m going into my fourth year studying management. Obviously, the practical side of a football club is totally different from what you learn in theory, but it’s a role I really enjoy. But besides enjoying it, you have to understand it, because in practice you really have to pay ten times more attention. You’re managing people, you have to be careful,” he said.

One of Mirassol’s differentiators for this meteoric rise in their debut year in Série A has been the environment created at the club. Even with a tighter budget, the team from the interior of São Paulo has made life difficult for the country’s powerhouses and brought the spotlight to the quiet city of 65,000 inhabitants more than 450 km from the state capital.

“I always say that it’s not just the athletes you have to manage, nor just the coaching staff. There’s a whole support team that I try to take care of in the best way possible, to show them they are part of the process. That’s not hard for me, on the contrary, it’s something very good and I love it, because they need to see that the person taking care of them is trying to do their best, to create an environment where everyone feels included and respected, that’s the main thing. By being loyal and truthful, you’re one step ahead. We can’t control the results, but we can control our actions during the week,” the Corinthians idol added.

Approaches from other clubs

It’s based on these principles that Paulinho, the players, and the coaching staff have achieved impressive results in the top tier of Brazilian football. Only Flamengo, the leader of the Brasileirão, has fewer losses than Mirassol. Because of all this, the now football executive is already starting to receive interest from other major clubs, such as Santos and Sport, and his name has even been speculated for a permanent role on Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazilian National Team coaching staff. Pressure or privilege?

“I’ve always been someone with a good head, very balanced with this kind of situation. As an athlete, you still have the backing of representatives, a whole series of things, and now as a manager I’ve been surprised because these things happened this year, thank God, with the work at Mirassol. I never tire of saying how grateful I am to Mirassol for giving me this opportunity as a manager. But, the last two months have really been intense in terms of approaches, offers, proposals. I’ve always left my career in God’s hands. I’ve never worried about that. If it’s meant to happen one day, it will happen naturally, just as it always did in my playing career. Of course, the invitations at some point get to you, but I always tell my family that none of them have made me want to leave Mirassol,” he admitted.

“I think I still have a lot to give to Mirassol, things I intend to do here to help the club reach bigger goals this year, but if a possible departure happens, it will be at the right time, when we all think it’s best for both sides. I’m very happy here. When you’re happy, your family is happy, it’s hard to make a decision with doubts. If one day, next year or in two years, I leave, it will be in a way that’s good for everyone. You have to have a lot of balance, and I see that my mental state is up to date, because this really affects people. So, regarding this situation, I’ve been a very balanced person,” he added.

Lean budget

With the expansion of SAFs in Brazil, where traditional or non-traditional clubs now count on heavy investments from new owners, football has become more expensive. To assemble a competitive squad, you need money. Paulinho and Mirassol’s top brass, however, have been proving that with creativity, market monitoring, and being alert to opportunities, it is still possible to go toe-to-toe with national powerhouses with much less cash.

The majority of the players currently defending Mirassol arrived at the club at zero cost or with very little investment, but the team’s performance on the field has been as efficient as that of the country’s wealthiest clubs.

“The budget in football is very significant for building a squad, even in terms of structure, but for me it’s not the main point. I think there are other things ahead of it. Speaking of Mirassol, we have our convictions here, our philosophy, our working methodology. That makes us put other things ahead of the budget. Mirassol doesn’t bite off more than it can chew. If this is what we have to spend, that’s what we’ll spend. We have to keep our feet on the ground. That really makes us proud of our work, because with a much smaller budget than many other teams in Brazilian football, we’re managing to do a good job,” Paulinho commented.

“The results are coming, but we have a way of working, a conviction, that we can do a great job even without a huge budget like other teams. For many people it’s difficult, but being inside the process today, I say it’s not difficult, you just need to have your convictions, obviously with the board and coaching staff on the same page, and the players buying into the idea, because if the players don’t believe in us, it’s difficult. I’m very grateful for the trust all the players have in the board and coaching staff,” he added.

Libertadores is no longer a distant dream

In sixth place in the Brazilian Championship, Mirassol still keeps staying in Série A as a priority. The club will only be at ease when it reaches the target of 45 points, the number considered necessary to avoid relegation. However, after the first half of the Brazilian Championship, it’s undeniable that players, coaching staff, and management are starting to dream bigger, and Paulinho doesn’t hide it.

“We have to have a lot of wisdom and discernment at a time like this. We know our moment. Achieving everything that’s been achieved is difficult. First year in Série A, an important year for the club, but as a manager, I work on all scenarios. Even though sometimes that creates some anxiety, it’s normal, reaching the 45-point target, but I need to work with three or four scenarios, because that’s the club’s reality today,” he admitted.

Qualifying for the Libertadores or even the Sudamericana would put Mirassol on the international stage for the first time in its 100-year history. Achieving such a feat in the centenary would be immeasurable for the club and would forever mark Paulinho’s time at Leão.

“We have humility, our feet on the ground, to keep doing our job, but we have to have a plan and that’s how football works. It’s a wonderful moment. I do think game by game, but at the same time I need to think about planning after reaching the first goal, what we want to achieve, next year. We’ll look at the scenario we can reach and study it well to make a good plan. The executive director needs to work on the three or four scenarios that may arise. That’s a reality, but I’m convinced that, by doing this excellent job, we’ll secure our place in Série A, and then, after achieving that first step, comes the second, which is the Sudamericana. Whether it’s Sudamericana or Libertadores, they’re different things, different plans, but I already have in mind what I want to present to the board in terms of planning,” he pointed out.

For these reasons and more, even though he’s been studying management for a few years, Paulinho is learning day by day how a football club works. The experience as a top-level professional athlete helps, of course, but the former midfielder is starting a journey that requires other skills and knows that only with time will he be able to improve and become an even better manager, despite his recent success.

“I learned more in practice. But also, when you have the theoretical part, you learn a lot about relationships, how to approach a professional, a player, a coach, a physiotherapist, a doctor. You learn that in theory, but day-to-day brings you situations that didn’t come up in the test, and you have to be quick to solve them. What I like, I’ve always made it clear that executive Paulinho isn’t someone who will sit at a desk, I need to be there every day, on the field watching everything the professionals are doing so that, if I have any questions, they’re positive ones. The debates here are light, I need to understand, absorb the information to be able to put my ideas forward. If people imagine executive Paulinho sitting there, of course I take part in signings and planning, but what I like is being at the training center to follow everything before making decisions. I’m much more about practice on the field, analyzing training, making the link with the board. Practice is the greatest school,” he concluded.

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