Common sense prevails, São Paulo won't wait for Edmílson till Copa's end | OneFootball

São Paulo is close to officially giving up on hiring former center-back and defensive midfielder Edmílson as its new football manager.

According to what AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned, Edmílson, who was hired by the CBF to work during the World Cup, received an offer from the Morumbi club but wanted to begin negotiations only after the end of the tournament being played in North America.

At first, president Harry Massis even agreed. But after internal pressure from political allies, he changed his mind. And he is expected to make official later this week the promotion of Rafinha as the new replacement for the dismissed Rui Costa.

The former player will form a duo with lawyer Felipe Carvalho, who had already been dealing daily with contracts and bureaucratic matters in the department since January 2020.

Carvalho has been working since last week at the Barra Funda training center, helping Rafinha with contacts with agents and starting negotiations.

The official understanding is that waiting for Edmílson may take time that Tricolor cannot afford right now. After nearly a month of the Brazilian calendar being paused for the World Cup, São Paulo has signed only one player, winger Victor Sá, who is arriving after becoming a free agent. The priority given to Rafinha is to complete as soon as possible the signings of a center-back and a defensive midfielder.

THE CASE

Currently, World Cup winner Edmílson holds a strategic position at the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), focused on developing institutional initiatives and liaising with clubs and federations.

The rapprochement between the club and its former player took place during the recent trip by São Paulo president Harry Massis to the United States, at the invitation of the national body itself, to watch Brazil’s World Cup opener.

On that occasion, Edmílson’s profile was discussed as a viable alternative for a possible restructuring of the football department.

According to what AMT heard, what helped convince the Tricolor chairman was the fact that the former player showed “deep knowledge” of São Paulo’s affairs.

“He wanted to work in other areas of football, but he confided to the president his desire to work in this area, to be a manager. He has taken courses, done internships, all in Europe. And he has a connection with the club. In fact, the president was delighted by how well he knew what was going on, commenting on matches and even negotiations that are underway,” a source told the report.

The initial behind-the-scenes outlook at São Paulo indicated that sporting manager Rafinha would not be permanently appointed to the role of football executive.

The internal assessment is based on the technical distinction between the duties of each role: while the executive position requires direct involvement in financial structuring, player negotiations, and the overall management of the department, Rafinha’s role is focused on communication and serving as the institutional link between the board and the professional squad.

However, during the transition period in which the club is looking for a replacement for Rui Costa, Rafinha will temporarily take on responsibilities outside his original scope. To make the management of the sector viable and keep market processes moving, the sporting manager will have the operational support of the football department’s executive and legal staff, who were already assisting with drafting contracts and the bureaucratic procedures of signings.

Edmílson turned professional at São Paulo after coming through the youth ranks at XV de Jaú. Initially, he was a defensive midfielder, but under Telê Santana and Muricy Ramalho he became versatile, playing at right-back, center-back, attacking midfielder and even second striker. Despite his longevity at the club (five years with Tricolor), he was never treated as a major idol by the fans, perhaps hindered by having arrived at the end of the victorious generation that won back-to-back world titles in 1992 and 1993 and by having lived through one of the worst lean spells of the last century.

It was as a defender that he was eventually called up and made a starter for the Brazilian National Team in the 2002 World Cup-winning campaign, after rebuilding his career in Spain, where he stood out. At Morumbi, he totaled 254 matches and 19 goals between 1995 and 2000, winning two Paulista titles (1998 and 2000), in addition to the 1996 Copa Master Conmebol.

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