The striker, however, accepted a significant reduction to fit within the salary cap defined by the São Paulo club’s new expense containment policy. The Corinthians board works with the goal of reducing the football department’s costs by 30% throughout 2026.
In addition to the financial factor, the lack of space at Al-Hilal weighed on the player’s decision. Kaio was informed behind the scenes at the Saudi club that he would only have a few minutes under the command of coach Simone Inzaghi. Since then, he started looking for alternatives to leave the team and saw Corinthians as the best opportunity to regain his leading role in Brazilian football.
The striker has a contract with Al-Hilal until June 2028. If the deal is completed, he will be loaned to Corinthians until the end of the season, with the purchase price previously fixed in the contract.
Corinthians, Al-Hilal and the player’s representatives have already exchanged drafts of the contract, and the São Paulo club’s legal department has already prepared the document. All that is needed is the signature for the agreement to be made official. The internal expectation is that the bureaucratic issues will be resolved in the coming days and that the announcement will take place by the beginning of next week.
No loan fee
Unlike the negotiation involving midfielder Matheus Pereira, on loan from Fortaleza, the arrival of Kaio César will not involve payment of a loan fee by Corinthians.
