Window nears close, Corinthians into final day to bolster squad | OneFootball

Corinthians entered the final day to strengthen the squad at the start of the season. Brazilian football’s exception window closes this Friday, and the black-and-white board is still racing against time to try to move forward with a deal and provide head coach Dorival Júnior with more manpower.

The transfer window closed on March 3, but Brazilian clubs can still sign players during the exception window, which ends this Friday. The extra period allows deals for players who took part in the State Championships or are free agents.

The club from Parque São Jorge, meanwhile, has no advanced negotiations with any player at the moment. Timão could even end this stretch without signing a striker. Signing a “penalty-box center forward” had long been a wish of both the board and the coaching staff.

Corinthians even considered a way to push for the signing of Botafogo’s Arthur Cabral and even thought about involving Pedro Raul, as revealed by Gazeta Esportiva. However, the club’s top brass ended negotiations with the Rio de Janeiro side on Thursday night.

Botafogo wanted a transfer fee for the player, while Corinthians was trying for a loan deal without taking on 100% of the player’s wages, considered high under the current standards adopted by Corinthians’ senior leadership. The clubs failed to reach an agreement, and Timão put an end to the talks.

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“He [was offered to Corinthians, and a financial assessment is being made to see whether Corinthians can sign him or not. He was offered, and [Marcelo] Paz spoke about the matter. We carried out a critical financial analysis to find out whether we can take on the salary, because we made a commitment to the institution that we would not add more fuel to the debt we already have,” president Osmar Stabile said on Wednesday.

Given this scenario, Corinthians is considering another name. Gazeta Esportiva has learned that Portuguesa forward Renê has entered Timão’s radar. According to journalist Samir Carvalho, the club has even already made a loan offer for the 22-year-old player.

If it wants to secure the player’s services, Timão will have to move quickly in the talks. The club has until 11:59 p.m. this Friday to complete the deal and exchange documents with Lusa.

Austerity policy

Faced with the deadlock over Arthur Cabral, Stabile again mentioned the transfer policy Corinthians has been adopting: no major investments, prioritizing players available at no cost or on loan. In a severe financial crisis, the club does not intend to spend large sums to strengthen the squad.

“It was a way to convince everyone about the financial situation, so we can deliver a better Corinthians down the road. We’re not spending anything; everyone spent more than we did. Corinthians is the second Serie A team that spent the least in this window. I’ve said that we’re going to suffer a little now, but we’ll reap the benefits later,” the president added.

One example of this is the pullback from signing Alisson, formerly of São Paulo and now on loan at Fluminense. Timão had everything lined up to bring in the midfielder, but gave up on paying R$1 million to its rival for the loan, since it did not have the funds at the time and did not want to compromise cash flow.

All of Corinthians’ signings this season have come at no cost. So far, the club has announced forward Kaio César and defensive midfielder Allan (both on loan), as well as center-back Gabriel Paulista, full-back Pedro Milans, and midfielders Jesse Lingard and Zakaria Labyad.

Corinthians’ next matches

Fluminense vs Corinthians (ninth round of the Brazilian Championship) Date and time: 04/01 (Wednesday), 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

Corinthians vs Internacional (tenth round of the Brazilian Championship) Date and time: 04/05 (Sunday), 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Neo Química Arena, in São Paulo (SP)

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