São Paulo defender wants exit to join Paulista rival | OneFootball

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR revealed on Monday (3), the representatives of defender Matheus Belém, 22, are trying to reach an agreement with São Paulo’s management for a contract termination. According to the report, the reason is an offer the player has to strengthen Portuguesa in the upcoming Paulista Championship.

Sources consulted by AMT report that the rival from the São Paulo capital has been in talks with them to announce him as a new signing. If Belém cannot secure his release, Lusa’s plan is to negotiate a loan deal with Tricolor. However, they want the player released early so he can start pre-season with the rest of the squad and begin 2026 in better physical shape.

The defender has not officially been listed for a match since April of last year and is currently training separately from the group.

Yes, the player developed at Cotia is still part of the Tricolor’s professional squad. But he hasn’t played in a match for a very, very long time (read more below).

Belém has been training at different times from the rest of the squad and is not part of the club’s plans. With a contract until the end of next year, his representatives aim to secure a friendly contract termination, making it easier to find a new destination for him in football.

Sources consulted by AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR indicate that despite the defender’s situation—completely sidelined and recently venting on social media—the atmosphere with management is calm. There is an inclination, even as a cost-cutting measure, for the board to accept the request.

UNDERSTAND THE CASE

One of the blessings of living in times of widespread digital inclusion is having abundant audiovisual material at our disposal, allowing us, above all, to immortalize memories and have historical documentary evidence of facts or events that occurred.

Football fits into this folklore: games, plays, goals, and especially players from the past century who were lost due to technological limitations in image recording. What remains are written or oral accounts that, over time and generations, generate more feelings of doubt and amusement than actually fulfilling their historical documentary function.

One of the cases from these new times that would certainly become a story worthy of a truly archaeological effort by competent and effective São Paulo historians and researchers is that of defender Matheus Belém. If it weren’t for social media and digital photos, it would be hard to prove that he actually played professionally for the Morumbi club.

It’s no wonder. A product of Tricolor’s youth academy, Belém hasn’t played football for almost two years. Mind you, not just professionally for São Paulo Futebol Clube, but for ANY team.

Matheus Belém has been training separately from the São Paulo squad since mid-April, when he was returned from his loan to Chapecoense, which had been formalized at the start of the year and was supposed to last until December, but was abruptly ended due to a successful overhaul by the Santa Catarina club—now a favorite for promotion in Série B, but at the time winless in the competition and in turmoil behind the scenes. There, the young defender was on the bench for three matches but did not play.

Internally, the Belém case is a mystery. Promoted to the first team by Rogério Ceni at the end of 2022, he received the same treatment as Beraldo: he would train for a year at Barra Funda, while also playing in Cotia, to gain experience. Both, in fact, were noted for their similarities, as they are left-footed.

A stroke of luck similar to what is happening now, when there was a shortage of defenders in the squad, allowed Belém to skip a few steps the following year. He made his debut in the classic against Santos on February 12, in the Paulista Championship, coming on during the match after Alan Franco was injured.

While Beraldo established himself in the starting lineup with the arrival of Dorival Júnior, Belém followed the previously set plan of training with the first team and playing for the under-20s. He would reappear for the team against Bragantino in the Brasileirão on July 9, when the reserves were fielded between the quarterfinal matches against Palmeiras in the Copa do Brasil. He got a golden opportunity against América-MG on August 6, when once again absences and injuries led to his selection. That was the last time he played as a professional.

The good impression he left by handling the pressure excited the fans and created a dilemma, as Belém’s contract with Tricolor was set to expire at the end of 2023. The player even verbally agreed to a pre-contract with Bragantino, which required behind-the-scenes work by management with the interior club to reverse the situation, creating some internal friction. The defender stayed. The regret did too.

Now, with a contract until the end of 2026, Belém has officially become the last option for the position. He still had some standing with Thiago Carpini, spending eight games on the bench with the former coach in the first half of 2024, but as soon as Luis Zubeldía arrived, his appearances vanished, leaving only training images captured by the club’s press office.

His departure was considered a certainty. And it did happen. But the lack of opportunities in Santa Catarina showed that Belém’s development may not have gone as hoped.

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