Campeonato Paulista begins with Corinthians and Santos under pressure – 01/19/2024 – Sport

The 123rd edition of the Campeonato Paulista starts this weekend and the four big teams that will be in contention will face different levels of demands from their fans, still reflecting the performance of Corinthians, Palmeiras, São Paulo and Santos last season.

While people from Palmeiras and São Paulo still enjoy the tranquility provided by the victories of the Brazilian Championship and the Copa do Brasil, respectively, the relegation of the Santos team in the national championship — the first in its history — and the hardship faced by the Corinthians team to avoid the same outcome force the two black and white formations to give an immediate response to their fans.

To erase the bad image of last season, Corinthians and Santos are undergoing reformulation processes, starting with the boards. In Parque São Jorge, oppositionist Augusto Melo replaced Duílio Monteiro Alves, whose political group was unable to elect candidate André Luiz de Oliveira, André Negão.

At Vila Belmiro, Andrés Rueda was succeeded by Marcelo Teixeira, who is now in his third term at the club — he also held the chair in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Under Melo’s guidance, the Parque São Jorge team got rid of nine players. Most of them were at the end of their contract and did not have their contracts renewed by the previous management precisely at the request of the new agent. The list includes names that are fans’ idols, such as Renato Augusto, Gil and Fábio Santos, as well as athletes who were a constant presence on the team, such as Bruno Méndez and Cantillo.

Young Moscardo, 18, is also included in this account and is the only one who should yield a financial return for Corinthians, as he is being sold to Paris Saint-Germain for 22 million euros (R$ 117 million), of which the club will have entitled to 92%.

To reinforce Mano Menezes’ squad, seven names have already been secured by the new board. Defenders Félix Torres, 27, and Gustavo Henrique, 30, full-backs Hugo, 26, Palacios, 24, and Matheuzinho, 23, midfielder Raniele, 27, and midfielder Garro, 26, arrived.

With the exception of Gustavo Henrique, the fact that everyone is under 30 years old is not a coincidence and, rather, a concern of the new board to rejuvenate the cast. Augusto Melo promises that other players will arrive to complete the squad.

At Santos, at least 14 players have already had their departure practically confirmed. Among the names are midfielder Jean Lucas, midfielder Lucas Lima and attackers Lucas Braga, Soteldo and Marcos Leonardo.

Of all, the one who provided the greatest financial return was Marcos Leonardo, traded with Benfica for 18 million euros (R$96 million).

More than a good Campeonato Paulista, Santos’ objective this year is to form a squad capable of returning the club to the elite of national football. For this, coach Fábio Carille was repatriated from Japan.

In addition to him, the club decided to bet on experienced names that were available on the market, such as defender Gil, 36, full-backs Hayner (28), Jorge (27) and Aderlan (33), midfielders Giuliano (33), Diego Pituca ( 31), Cazares (31), João Schmidt (30) and Otero (31) and strikers Willian Bigode (37) and Marcelinho (21).

The choice of experienced names also has to do with the fact that the club will have a short calendar this year, as it was not even able to qualify for the Copa do Brasil. The only commitments will be for the State and Series B.

Palmeiras and São Paulo bet on maintenance

Current champions of São Paulo and Brazil, Palmeiras starts 2024 once again favorite to fight for the titles of all the championships they compete in.

Unlike recent years, however, when the transfer market was very busy, the Alviverde team invested in maintaining its squad to continue fighting for the cups. The main “reinforcement” was the renewal of coach Abel Ferreira’s contract, now with a contract until 2025.

Besides him, there were only occasional arrivals, such as striker Caio Paulista, 25, who passed over rival São Paulo to join the team from Palmeiras.

The São Paulo fan, however, has another reason to be more worried than the failure in the attempt to sign the striker. After all, just over a week ago, the club lost coach Dorival Júnior to the Brazilian team.

To replace him, the board bet on Thiago Carpini, 39, a coach who will have his first experience at a major club after emerging at Água Santa, with which he reached the Paulista final in 2023.

After his success in the State Championship, he was hired by Juventude, who finished Series B of the Brazilian Championship last year in second place and will compete in the national elite this season.

Before the change of coach, the board had already made the one-off signings it planned for this start of the season, striker Erick (26), midfielder Damián Bobadilla (22) and midfielder Luiz Gustavo (36).