Gabriel Paulista: why he chose Corinthians over Palmeiras, Atlético-MG | OneFootball

Scorer of Corinthians' first goal in their Supercopa do Brasil victory over Flamengo, defender Gabriel Paulista spoke about his arrival at the club and the negotiations that preceded his agreement with Timão. In a live interview on “Fala a Fonte” by ESPN, the defender revealed that he had been contacted by Palmeiras and Atlético-MG before deciding to return to Brazilian football.

According to Gabriel, Atlético-MG was the first club to show interest, back at the beginning of last year while he was playing in Europe. “Atlético-MG, in fact, had also called me at the start of last year. They wanted to go to Istanbul to talk to me, but ended up not going. We didn’t have any deeper conversations regarding a contract,” Gabriel said.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

The defender also confirmed an approach from Palmeiras, but explained that the contact did not progress to an official offer.

“Palmeiras as well. João Paulo (Sampaio) called me, I was on vacation here before signing with Besiktas. We have a good relationship, as he was my director in Vitória’s youth academy. I’m very grateful to João Paulo, who helped me a lot when I played at Vitória, but it didn’t go beyond that.”

Gabriel detailed that the conversation was limited to an initial inquiry.

“He just asked if I’d be interested and such, but it didn’t go beyond that. Only one club made an official offer, but I set it aside and only listened to Corinthians.”

Next, the defender explained how the negotiations with the Parque São Jorge club unfolded, which was facing market restrictions due to a transfer ban.

“I always had this dream of playing for Corinthians, and last year, there was already this possibility, a conversation with Fabinho (Soldado). We knew about the difficulties Corinthians was going through, suffered a transfer ban and couldn’t sign players, but when the possibility of Corinthians sorting things out arose, we resumed talks.”

Besides the sporting aspect, Gabriel mentioned personal reasons that weighed on his decision to return to Brazil.

“There was also the situation with my mother, who is going through a bit of a health problem. So, the possibility of returning to Brazil started to take shape. There were inquiries from other Brazilian clubs, I even listened, but I turned them down. They increased their offer, but when my agent called, I said I didn’t even want to listen, I only wanted to listen to Corinthians.”

Even with a current contract with Besiktas, in Turkey, the defender stated that he chose to terminate his contract to fulfill his dream of wearing the black and white shirt.

“I still had a year and a half left on my contract with Besiktas, it was a high-value contract, but I did this crazy thing of terminating it, because I’m one more of the Bando de Loucos. Many in my family said I was crazy to do this, they were against it, but it was my dream, my brother’s dream. I gave up a lot, but what I’m living now doesn’t compare to anything.”

Finally, Gabriel highlighted his personal fulfillment and projected a long stint at the club.

“The money I left behind doesn’t pay for this. It’s something I want to experience more and more each day, enjoy every moment at my beloved club. As for age, it’s just a number. I’m a player who’s always taken care of myself, I’ll keep taking care of myself and I hope to play for many years in this shirt to win more titles.”

Corinthians return to the pitch on Thursday (the 5th), when they face Capivariano at 8:30 PM (Brasília time), for the Campeonato Paulista.

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