São Paulo back Roger, target holding midfielder: Thiago Maia or Rômulo | OneFootball

Pablo Maia’s surgery, lack of faith in Luan, Bobadilla’s negotiations, the need to give Negrucci more minutes…

All of these factors, combined with coach Roger Machado’s assessment that São Paulo have too many box-to-box midfielders in the squad, led him to ask the board to sign a holding midfielder, the popular “number 5,” as football slang calls it.

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned, Roger wants more options for fixed defensive midfielders. Also because of the risk of losing two current squad options: Bobadilla, who is expected to be transferred to Europe after playing in the World Cup for Paraguay, and Luan, who lost space after the departure of admirer Hernán Crespo.

There is also the ever-present threat of Pablo Maia leaving for the Old Continent, something that had once heated up but has now cooled off completely with his loss of space in the squad.

Rômulo during his time at Inter facing São Paulo (Ricardo Moreira/Getty Images)

Given all this, names submitted by Roger are being evaluated internally. And the report has discovered two of them, both of whom have already worked with the coach at Internacional: Thiago Maia and Rômulo.

Maia is not exactly a new name when it comes to speculation involving São Paulo. Since Rogério Ceni’s time in charge of the team, in 2022, his name has appeared as a potential signing desired by Tricolor. He is the most plausible option, not least because he is on the fringes at the club from Rio Grande do Sul, with only eight matches played this season, and his contract runs only until the end of the year. He has wanted to leave Beira-Rio since the start of the year, when he even reached an agreement with Santos, where he came through the youth ranks, but a debt Inter owed Flamengo for his purchase blocked the transfer.

AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned that executive Rui Costa has been in talks with the entourage of the 29-year-old midfielder. And initial talks to sign a pre-contract in July have begun so that he can become a signing in 2027.

The Rio Grande do Sul press even reported that Inter were willing to send the player to Tricolor in exchange for Arboleda, but the Ecuadorian’s disciplinary issues weighed heavily and things cooled off.

If they want Maia in the next transfer window, Inter’s approval will be necessary, and that is not expected to come easily. As has become standard, São Paulo do not want to spend to acquire players. And the red club is not willing to let the player go early, even if he signs a pre-contract with another team, partly because of the high investment made to take him from Flamengo. In short, he would be a signing for next year.

Money is also an obstacle to landing Rômulo. The 26-year-old player was signed for 5 million euros (nearly R$30 million) in January last year by Tigres of Mexico. And unlike Maia, he is an undisputed starter in the North American country: he has played 34 matches this season (which follows the European calendar), with three assists.

He is under contract until the end of 2027. In other words, signing him would require investment, a forbidden word around Morumbi. At least until midyear. According to what the report has learned, partly because of the midfielder’s age and quality, in addition to the interest signaled by his entourage in playing for Tricolor, the belief at São Paulo is that it could be something worthwhile. But it depends on the sales that will be made in the middle of the year to raise funds, putting the plans on hold for now.

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