Cruzeiro may outbid Botafogo for Pablo Maia at São Paulo | OneFootball

Another club has entered the race for midfielder Pablo Maia. In negotiations with Botafogo in a major player exchange, São Paulo learned that Cruzeiro is also interested in its Cotia revelation, with a better offer than the one from the Rio de Janeiro club.

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR revealed last week, Botafogo was rushing to negotiate with Pablo, aware of other offers for the midfielder. The report discovered that the agents of the Cotia talent informed São Paulo that they have inquiries from European teams (from Germany, Turkey, and Russia), as well as at least two other major Brazilian teams. One of them, we now know, is Cruzeiro.

AMT found out this Tuesday (23) that Pablo Maia's agent submitted an inquiry made by Cruzeiro to understand the terms of the negotiation and values, with the intention of buying the midfielder upfront, which is of great interest to the cash-strapped club that desperately needs to balance its finances by selling its athletes.

What might excite the Minas Gerais team is that the talks between Botafogo and Maia have not progressed. The proposal from the Rio club did not entice the São Paulo player to move to Rio de Janeiro. He knows there are other offers that might be better. And Cruzeiro could be a strong candidate to sign him.

The Minas Gerais team ended the season well, despite not winning titles, but left a good impression in the Brasileirão and will compete in the next Copa Libertadores, with a high-investment project. If they come with a good offer for São Paulo, which is not a problem for those in Belo Horizonte, they might win the race.

The ‘swap’ with Botafogo

As we mentioned, Ferraresi is indeed on his way to General Severiano. São Paulo had already accepted Botafogo's offer, and the player is set to move. However, this is the only decision made so far.

Initially, Botafogo inquired about a third São Paulo player. After being turned down for Ferreirinha, they speculated about midfielder Rodriguinho. For São Paulo, that's fine. But the staff of the young Cotia revelation did not like it. They prefer to keep him at Morumbi. At least until a European offer arrives (and there are inquiries).

Now, the Rio club is already certain about the exchange of only two players with Tricolor. They are trying to please Pablo Maia's agents.

The difficulty lies with São Paulo in attracting the players from the black-and-white team. AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has already revealed that of the three names initially speculated by the São Paulo team, two, winger Savarino and midfielder Marlon Freitas, were initially rejected. The situation of the latter, however, has changed in recent days and he might be a name to strengthen Tricolor.

The obstacle is that Marlon Freitas is still negotiating with Botafogo, which plans to renew the contract with its captain. As for Savarino, if he has to leave the Rio club, he wants to go to Atlético-MG, a club he has previously played for and where Jorge Sampaoli, whom he considers a friend, works.

The most desired name by Tricolor, however, is right-back Vitinho. Executive Rui Costa, however, heard from the agents that he wants to wait until the end of the holidays to decide his future. In other words, he wants to wait until January. This is believed to be a strategy, as the staff might be waiting for inquiries from Europe.

To complicate matters further, a name suggested by the Botafogo team, forward Joaquín Correa, sparked interest, and Costa opened talks with the staff. But he heard that, at this moment, the Argentine is not interested in playing in the São Paulo capital. A new meeting has been scheduled for next week with the player's agents to try to advance the deal and finally unlock the exchange.

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