Flamengo v Cruzeiro pits Brazil’s costliest signings head to head | OneFootball

Flamengo v Cruzeiro brings together Brazil’s costliest club signings, Lucas Paquetá and Gerson, on opposite sides. According to Globo.com, both midfielders arrived in January, setting successive national transfer records.

On 10 January, Cruzeiro signed Gerson from Zenit for R$ 168.8 million, which made him the most expensive recruit in the country at the time. Flamengo then announced the return of Lucas Paquetá from West Ham on 28 January for R$ 260 million, moving to number one.

Flamengo also pushed to add Zenit forward Luiz Henrique, formerly of Botafogo, earlier this month. After positive signals from the Russian club, talks cooled.

The initial plan involved a fixed 30 million euros fee, worth R$ 177 million. Club president Luiz Eduardo Baptista, known as Bap, limited the outlay to 25 million euros, around R$ 147 million.

Paquetá and Gerson began the year eyeing the World Cup. Paquetá was out of the Brazil squad from November 2024 to August 2025, then returned after being cleared of betting allegations in England. He earned Carlo Ancelotti’s trust and was seen as a near-certainty for the final list, starting until he was injured against Japan.

Gerson took part in the early phase under Ancelotti and featured in the first two matches. He made 10 appearances between 2023 and 2025, but call-ups stopped after his move from Flamengo to Zenit mid last year. He was included in a 50-man longlist for the tournament.

Source: Globo.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”