Sao Paulo’s director of football, Rui Costa, has admitted that the Brazilian club are open to listening to offers for Lucas Beraldo and Pablo Maia, who have both been mooted as targets for Tottenham Hotspur.
Beraldo is having a breakthrough season at Sao Paulo and it was reported a few days ago by The Sunday Mirror (26/11; page 70) that Tottenham were eyeing a move for the centre-back.
The report claimed that the youngster was valued at £20m by the Brazilian club ahead of the January transfer window and that Liverpool and Newcastle United were also watching his situation closely.
Meanwhile midfielder, Maia is more of an established performer in the Brasileiro Serie A and was first mooted as a target for the likes of Spurs and West Ham United over a year ago (90 min).
However, it was alleged at the time that Sao Paulo blocked approaches from the Premier League for the 21-year-old (IG Esporte).
Sau Paulo are open to Beraldo and Maia offers
Costa has now said that while Beraldo and Maia are not putting pressure on the club regarding a move, he opened the door for a potential January transfer if the price is right.
The Sao Paulo director told Globo Esporte (via CNN): “They are boys with very good minds, who know that the moment will come (to leave). We’ll always talk to the agent and the player.
“We ended up renewing Beraldo’s contract. We recently renewed with both (Rodrigo) Nestor and Pablo. They all have a contract (at least) until 2027. We will negotiate with each of them if the offer is good for everyone. But I have never faced pressure from these boys. Quite the opposite.”
Spurs Web Opinion
An offer in the region of £15m-£20m for either Beraldo or Maia would likely be too good for Sao Paulo to turn down. It remains to be seen whether Spurs or any other Premier League side are willing to bid such an amount for either the midfielder or the defender.
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