São Paulo reject Russian bid, Henrique do Carmo stays | OneFootball

RAFAEL EMILIANO @rafaelemilianoo

The transfer window remains busy at São Paulo in its final hours.

According to information initially released by ESPN, the Morumbi club rejected an offer from CSKA, Russia, for winger Henrique do Carmo, one of Cotia's great talents who remain in the squad for the rest of the season, early on Tuesday evening (2).

According to the broadcaster's portal, the European club, which has already signed another São Paulo youth revelation, midfielder Matheus Alves, in this window, offered $3.5 million (approximately R$ 19 million) for Henrique.

The proposal was ultimately rejected by the Tricolor.

It is the third European offer for the revelation that has been rejected by the club. In early August, São Paulo dismissed negotiations with PSV, from the Netherlands. Previously, an approach from Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine, had already been turned down by the Brazilians.

The Morumbi club even initially agreed to continue negotiations with PSV to release Henrique for 1 million euros (about R$ 6.3 million) for a one-season loan.

The sticking point is the fee for the definitive transfer of the player after the period. Despite the bargaining, the Dutch did not increase the amount of 6 million euros (approximately R$ 37.9 million).

São Paulo rejected an offer of 7 million euros (R$ 44.4 million at the current exchange rate) from Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine, at the beginning of the year. They even tried to negotiate with PSV, indicating that they could close the deal if the total proposal (loan fee and young player's purchase) reached 8 million euros (about R$ 50.8 million), in addition to retaining at least 20% of the rights for a future negotiation.

The context, however, was different. Henrique was uncertain about his future at Morumbi, as he had a contract only until the end of this year, potentially allowing him to sign a pre-agreement with anyone he wanted. In other words, the value would reflect a way for the Tricolor not to be left empty-handed in the event of the jewel's departure.

To make matters worse, São Paulo was experiencing a backstage problem with the jewel's agent, Wagner Ribeiro, who used his social media to attack the club's former coach, Luis Zubeldía, for not giving the player chances, as well as accusing him of offending and humiliating club professionals.

Now, the jewel has renewed his contract and is signed with the Tricolor until the end of 2028.

Henrique was promoted to the Tricolor's professional team at the beginning of last year's Brazilian Championship, precisely as a way to try to cool the European interest and convince him to renew his contract.

But the lack of opportunities weighed heavily. That year, he only played in the 2-1 victory against Vitória at Morumbi.

Now, after almost a year working at Barra Funda and since the departure of other names promoted from the youth team, Henrique has been frequently used by coach Hernán Crespo and has won the fans' admiration, becoming a kind of talisman who enters in the final stages and ignites the opponents.

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