Al Ittihad pull back on Rodrigo Mora bid, turn attention to Zenit's Pedro | OneFootball

Al Ittihad has, for now, given up on signing Rodrigo Mora after FC Porto rejected all offers, standing firm on the €70 million release clause. According to Sportinforma, the Porto club’s board has not received any contact in recent hours.

The deal was blocked by a veto from the Jeddah club’s board of directors, who considered the investment too high and difficult to recover in a future sale. Given this assessment, the club is now looking into other options and is targeting Pedro, a 19-year-old Brazilian winger from Zenit, valued at €35 million—half of Mora’s clause.

Pedro’s youth fits the squad’s criteria, as he could fill one of the spots reserved for foreign under-21 players. Even so, nothing prevents Mora from remaining an option, since Al Ittihad is open to creating space by letting players like Aouar, Kanté, or Fabinho leave, using the freed-up spots for senior athletes.

For now, the priority seems to be alternatives, leaving Mora on hold in case other targets do not progress. The uncertainty recalls the episode with Galeno last summer: at the time, there was an agreement between FC Porto and Al Ittihad, but the deal fell through on the last day of the transfer window, with the Saudis choosing Steven Bergwijn instead.

This time, there was no agreement and the reasons are different, but the common denominator remains: yet another deal between FC Porto and Al Ittihad that may not materialize.

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