Corinthians director on exit rumours, duo’s future discussed

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Central do Timão

·23 ottobre 2025

Corinthians director on exit rumours, duo’s future discussed

By Fabio Luigi / Central do Timão Editorial Team

This Wednesday, October 22, Corinthians learned the field assignments for the semifinals of the 2025 Copa do Brasil, which will be against Cruzeiro, on the base dates of December 10 and 14. The draw was held at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), in Teresópolis, Granja Comary, Rio de Janeiro.

After the event, football executive Fabinho Soldado gave an interview to the press and was questioned about the latest speculations involving a possible departure from the club at the end of this season. It is worth remembering that President Osmar Stabile stated, in contact with Meu Timão, that the professional will remain with the Alvinegro.

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Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

"(Situation) uncomfortable at no time. About this subject, I also have little to say, of course, I have to say something because you are asking me. Since I arrived at Corinthians, we hear some kind of comment, but I confess that I remain very enthusiastic. I always said this in my interviews: as long as I have the autonomy to work, I will dedicate myself to my team to the maximum. For me, honestly, it's almost 30 years in football. You already know how some things work. What matters to me is to support my coach, my athletes, so they can evolve, work with tranquility. That is the role of football executives, among many others. It is what we are doing at the club, working with structure, improving the physical structure of Corinthians," he began.

He then reviewed his work at the club, which began at the start of 2024. At that time, the Corinthians team faced difficulties in the Paulista Championship, where they did not qualify for the knockout stage. In the last Brasileirão, they secured a spot in the Pre-Libertadores after fighting against relegation for most of the national tournament. In the Copa do Brasil and the South American Cup, the Alvinegro stopped in the semifinals.

In 2025, Corinthians won the Paulista Championship with authority, losing only one game. In international competitions, the team fell in the preliminary phase of the Libertadores and in the group stage of the South American Cup. In the 2025 Brasileirão, the team is in the middle of the table and is simultaneously competing for a possible spot in the Copa do Brasil final.

"It's been almost two years since I've been at the club. So far, various actions have been taken for Corinthians to continue evolving. President Osmar has given me total autonomy to work. My alignment is very direct with him. And what comes from outside, the comments that arise, I tell you with all certainty that I have more still at the end of the year, it's practically two months to finish. I have a huge commitment to my supporter who supports me 100%, and that's what I'm going to do: dedicate myself to the maximum, focus on what will bring results. Immediately, for Corinthians, the result is to improve the situation in the Brazilian Championship and prepare very well for these two important Copa do Brasil games," he continued.

Later, he emphasized that he has alignment with President Osmar Stabile and also spoke about the club's financial difficulties. At the moment, Corinthians has an active transfer ban from FIFA and is prevented from registering new players. Despite this, Fabinho stated that having few acquisitions is not synonymous with the board's work not being good.

"I just told your friend that I dispatch with the president every day. President Osmar has given me total autonomy to work. If you look at some past interviews, I said: as long as I have autonomy to work, I will continue at Corinthians. I have a contract, I have a huge responsibility to the Corinthians supporter. My responsibility is to the supporter, my responsibility is to my athletes, my responsibility is to my technical staff, and I will continue doing that."

"It's 30 years in football. Unfortunately, we also know some paths, we know how Brazilian football works, but I have a very direct alignment with the president, not only with the president but with a large part of the board, with my legal, financial body. The contact I have with some advisors, with some statutory members, is a very nice, very open contact. And I hope to continue doing a good job, delivering the best for Corinthians, so we can improve a lot in the national competition and prepare very well for these two Copa do Brasil semifinal games."

He continued praising Dorival Júnior's work amid difficulties on and off the field, saying there is still room for improvement in his work and the group of Corinthians athletes: "We hired a player and in this last window one as well (Fabrizio Angileri and Vitinho). This does not mean it was incompetence of the president, the coach, the executive, we wanted to make the signings, certainly all the people involved wanted to, president, coach, executive, the supporter expected, but the club did not have the condition. And yet we are not lamenting, we are working every day, but Corinthians continues to evolve, now of course our fight becomes a little more difficult, but with all this we have a giant club, a very strong jersey and it is in the solutions that we have placed the most energy. So the solution is to improve the team, I have a coach who has done a very good job, he managed to recover the players, work with young players, bring a game standard to the team."

"Dorival always talks about this in the technical part, where I notice a lot in the tactical part. Corinthians has variations of plays and we need to sustain the work. We are in a reconstruction of a giant club. It is a work that I have been rebuilding since my arrival. Corinthians in the Paulista Championship was fighting not to fall. So this is very little for Corinthians. It was a very difficult, very hard reality. We managed to overcome them. We managed to win a Paulista Championship. Of course, if you ask me if I am super satisfied, if there is room for improvement, if the team needs to be strengthened, it is evident. Now we are working within our conditions, within what is possible to do at Corinthians. With these possibilities, with this work, I confess to you that I am very calm."

"I am happy, enthusiastic, and again very aligned with President Osmar because I have a president with whom we talk daily and with him that I every day, I close the day, I always talk to Osmar to understand what he is thinking. Osmar is a president who gives autonomy but, at the same time, when he feels the need to have some report from some area to understand better, it is done. And over time he has known our work, he himself has validated everything we are doing and of course, there is still a huge space for improvement."

Finally, he was questioned about the permanence of midfielder Maycon, who is on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine, until the end of the current season. It is worth remembering that Corinthians has a debt with the Ukrainian team that is under judgment at the CAS, FIFA's body, of just over 1 million euros, R$ 6 million, regarding the non-payment of loans in the years 2023 and 2024.

In total, there are 238 games with the Corinthians jersey (181 as a starter), with 114 wins, 66 draws, and 58 losses – just over 57% success rate. In total, there are 16 goals scored and five titles won: Brazilian Championship (2017) and Paulista Championship (2017, 2018, and 2025).

"Maycon is a player highly identified with the team. He has already shown the desire to stay at Corinthians. And of course, we would like him to stay. Let's better understand all this. We are talking in some way so that this player highly identified with Corinthians can stay with us. It's not that simple, it doesn't just depend on Maycon, it doesn't just depend on Corinthians. There are several parties that need to reach an agreement. Let's be calm and understand the best moment to have a definition regarding this."

Fabinho also spoke about the left shoulder injury of goalkeeper Hugo Souza, who is expected to be absent for the weekend match, away from home, for the Brazilian Championship, against Vitória, and midfielder José Martínez. The Venezuelan recently missed almost a week of activities due to personal problems involving his son and received an internal punishment.

"Everything has already been discussed with Martínez. He is our athlete, we count on Martínez, but that does not mean he did not respond for the fact. But it is a settled matter, an athlete we trust a lot and hope he continues to help us. "Hugo is that day-to-day evaluation, understanding how he is. I don't have much authority to talk about it, it's the medical department, but we understand that the athlete's daily evolution is important to understand what is going on with him. But the most important thing, of course, is that Hugo will be 100% to play as soon as he is also 100% clinically," he concluded.

Decisive stage of the Copa do Brasil

"First of all, value reaching this moment of the competition. Corinthians, along with the other three teams, reached with their merits and now we reach a decisive moment of the competition. You don't choose the field command, you don't choose the opponent. I have the experience of having won the Copa do Brasil both away, playing the last game at home and away. The important thing is to know how to play the first game. So, the main focus is on preparation until then in this game. And that's what we hope to do during the Brazilian Championship. We still need a recovery in the national competition. I am fully convinced that Dorival will be able to continue and make the team evolve to reach this moment of the Copa do Brasil in a much better condition."

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