Access denied: Qatari club rejects São Paulo loan move for ex-Palmeiras | OneFootball

São Paulo has found out that things won’t be easy in its plans to sign winger Wesley, formerly of Palmeiras.

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned, Al-Rayyan of Qatar, the club where the player currently plays, rejected the first approach made by the Morumbi club to sign him.

Sources from São Paulo’s top brass told the outlet that the initial talks were aimed at bringing in the 27-year-old winger on a one-season loan, with a set purchase option.

There was no financial offer from Tricolor, which only wanted to understand the terms of a possible deal. It was told that Wesley would only be allowed to leave in a permanent transfer.

In addition to Thiago Maia, a player with whom it has been holding advanced talks, as previously reported by AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR, São Paulo is also trying to fulfill another request from Roger Machado involving a former player he coached during his time at Internacional: Wesley.

The player, who can operate as a winger on both sides of the pitch as well as in a second-striker role, came through at rival Palmeiras. Although he enjoyed a certain level of trust from coach Abel Ferreira, he never really won over the fans on the other side of the city divide.

Wesley has been playing for Al-Rayyan in Qatar since September last year, after being sold by the club from Rio Grande do Sul for €8.5 million (around R$49.6 million). He signed a four-year contract there, but would be willing to return to Brazil to play for Tricolor.

The reason for the mutual interest between the parties, besides Roger’s trust—under whom Wesley had the best spell of his career—is the close relationship the Morumbi club has built with his agent, who is also Artur’s agent. The relative success of the No. 37 in São Paulo’s current system, which favors wingers, could help boost the former Palmeiras player’s profile, the outlet heard.

In fact, Wesley has reasons to want a change of scenery. After a blistering start with the Qatari side last year, he has lost some ground this season and was even left out of the squad for a few matches. Overall, he has five goals and three assists in 15 games in the Arab world.

Using the argument of increasing the player’s value will be São Paulo’s tactic to try, perhaps, to convince Al-Rayyan to accept a loan. That is because a deal for a permanent transfer has been ruled out. The club wants to recover a good part of the investment it made.

On top of that, Al-Rayyan has no history of making negotiations with São Paulo easy. In 2024, the club had even agreed on wages with defensive midfielder Thiago Mendes, now at Vasco, but the Qataris did not want to bring forward his release even though he was nearing the end of his contract and had no real prospect of being used more.

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