São Paulo bow to Russian pressure, sell Henrique do Carmo for a pittance | OneFootball

The Cotia gem is packing her bags to leave Morumbi (Rubens Chiri/SPFC)

RAFAEL EMILIANO@rafaelemilianoo

São Paulo is close to completing one of the worst deals in its history.

At least, that’s the conclusion we can draw after confirmation of the information initially published by the portal 'Lance' that the Morumbi club gave in to Russian persistence and arranged the sale of striker Henrique do Carmo to CSKA.

Well, this was the second offer from the Moscow club, which had already secured the signing of another gem from the tricolor youth academy, Matheus Alves.

After rejecting an offer of approximately 3.5 million euros (about R$ 22.2 million), the Julio Casares administration thought the Russian counteroffer was appropriate. But we can already say the amount is absurd: 6 million euros fixed (R$ 38.1 million), plus the possibility of 1 million euros (R$ 6.4 million) if certain goals are met. Tricolor would keep 25% of the player's economic rights. Pathetic, as you can see.

The deal, close to being finalized, was sealed on Monday night (8th), after Henrique do Carmo accepted a three-year contract with CSKA. Remember, he had a contract with São Paulo until the end of 2028, renewed at the beginning of this year.

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR found out, Matheus Alves, by the way, was one of the main pillars of the negotiation, telling his apprehensive friend what life is like in isolated Russia.

This is the third European offer for the prospect that ended up being rejected by the club. At the beginning of August, São Paulo dismissed negotiations with PSV from the Netherlands. Before that, an approach from Shakhtar Donetsk, from Ukraine, had already been turned down by the Brazilians.

The Morumbi club even initially agreed to continue negotiations with PSV to release Henrique for 1 million euros (about R$ 6.3 million) for a one-season loan.

The sticking point was the clause fee for a permanent transfer after the loan period. Despite the bargaining, the Dutch did not raise the amount from 6 million euros (approximately R$ 37.9 million).

São Paulo rejected an offer of 7 million euros (R$ 44.4 million at the current exchange rate) from Shakhtar Donetsk, from Ukraine, at the beginning of the year. They even tried to bargain with PSV, signaling they could close the deal if the total proposal (loan fee and purchase of the youngster) reached 8 million euros (about R$ 50.8 million), in addition to keeping at least 20% of the rights for a future negotiation.

The context, however, was different. Henrique was facing uncertainty about his future at Morumbi, as he only had a contract until the end of this year, and could be free to sign a pre-contract with any club. In other words, the amount would reflect a way for Tricolor not to be left empty-handed if the gem left.

To make matters worse, São Paulo was dealing with behind-the-scenes issues with the player's agent, Wagner Ribeiro, who used his social media to attack the club’s former coach, Luis Zubeldía, for not giving the player opportunities, and also accused him of offending and humiliating club professionals.

Now, the gem has renewed his contract and is tied to Tricolor until the end of 2028.

Henrique was promoted to the Tricolor first team at the start of last year’s Brazilian Championship, precisely as a way to try to cool European interest and convince him to renew his contract.

But the lack of opportunities weighed heavily. That year, he only played in the 2-1 win over Vitória, at Morumbi.

Now, after almost a year working at Barra Funda, Henrique had been used frequently by coach Hernán Crespo and won the fans’ admiration, becoming a kind of talisman who comes on in the final stages and shakes up the opponents.

This is the third departure of a great youth talent just in this transfer window. Before him and Matheus Alves, the Morumbi club had already agreed to send Lucas Ferreira to Ukrainian football.

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