Clear-out begins: wage row puts Alan Franco in Mexico talks | OneFootball

Argentine center-back Alan Franco is leaving São Paulo to join Tigres of Mexico.

The 29-year-old defender will move on a one-season loan deal, which also includes an option for a permanent transfer at the end of the period.

The agreement between the clubs is already sealed, with only the exchange of signed documents remaining to make the deal official.

The financial structure of the transfer was arranged on the following basis:

Loan fee: The Mexican club will pay $500,000 (around R$ 2.5 million);

Purchase option: The fee for a permanent transfer of his economic rights was set at $1.5 million (approximately R$ 7.6 million);

Outstanding payments: As part of the agreement to make the transfer possible, Alan Franco gave up the full amount of overdue payments he was owed by São Paulo.

Internal strain and reduced role under Dorival

The defender’s departure, having played at Morumbi since 2023, had been taking shape since May, after the appointment of coach Dorival Júnior.

During the coach’s previous spell, which ended with the Copa do Brasil title, Franco was underused and nearly left midway through that season, in his first year at São Paulo, on a loan move to Boca Juniors.

The player’s desire to leave was driven by technical and administrative factors. There had been financial friction between the parties due to delayed payments, a situation that led the player’s camp to consider taking the matter to FIFA to recover the overdue contractual amounts.

At the same time, the center-back believed he would get limited playing time under the new coaching staff, a scenario similar to the one he faced during Dorival’s previous time at the club.

The formal transfer request was submitted while Rui Costa — the football executive who was recently dismissed — was still in charge, and the negotiation was ultimately concluded under the interim management of Rafinha and Felipe Carvalho.

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