The information given by The Football on December 2nd that the Santos monitorava Gabigol gained new chapters this week. The striker already has the approval of the Santos club to join Neymar and company in Vila Belmiro. Gabigol also knows that Leonardo Jardim is not keen on him remaining at Cruzeiro in 2026, whether he wins or loses a place in the Copa do Brasil final against Corinthians. Therefore, there has already been a game between the clubs. Santos wants to buy Gabigol and Cruzeiro wants to sell him.
The most difficult part remains to be resolved: the financial part. There is a contract in force until December 2028 for the striker at the Minas club. His salary is R$2.5 million per month. Gabigol would replace Tiquinho Soareswhich did not work out at Santos and will be sold. Tiquinho wins R$ 1.5 million. What’s the idea? Tiquinho’s money would go to Gabigol and the Baixada club would have to find another R$1 million to cover what Gabigol earns per month. Or Gabigol can reduce your order.
This financial engineering seems to be circumvented by the director Alexandre Mattos. The problem is in part 2 of the negotiation: take Gabigol from Cruzeiro without paying anything for the contract. The Vila club claims that Cruzeiro did not pay anything to have Gabigol, who waited for his contract with Flamengo to end before leaving. That is true. The Neymar family has already joined the case and can help with negotiation. Gabigol is very close to Neymar’s father.
Casualties in Santos
Santos will release some players. In addition to Tiquinho Soares, Alexandre Mattos works to sell Billal, Andrey, Escobar, Rincón and even former Palmeiras native Mayke. Lautaro should also be traded. It is necessary to find a market for all of them. If he succeeds, Santos will save on payroll. The idea is to make specific hires. Neymar will also have his contract renewed. Santos needs to pay for Barreal to Cincinatti, from the United States. The player wants to stay in the Village, but it’s not up to him.
There is also the expectation that the club will make money with some players on its squad. Flamengo wants goalkeeper Brazão. João Pedro has already been approached by clubs in Europe, such as Spain and Italy. Guilherme goes to North American football. After the team remained in Serie A and celebrated Vojvoda’s good work and was still certain that Neymar would stay, optimism was restored for 2026.
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