São Paulo tried until the last hours of the transfer window, but Marcos Leonardo will not be joining the club at this time. ESPN has learned that the Tricolor held meetings throughout the day to finalize the deal with Al Hilal, but the transfer was not possible. The negotiations dragged on until the early hours in Saudi Arabia, but São Paulo deemed it impossible to meet the values presented in the latest meeting. Consequently, the talks were called off, and the Brazilian’s signing fell through.
On the player’s side, the preference has always been to return to Brazilian football to strengthen São Paulo, which was crucial for the deal to progress, but not even the striker’s efforts were enough to unlock the negotiation.
Despite the setback in this window, ESPN has learned that São Paulo will try to sign Marcos Leonardo again in the future. This time, the loan deal with Al Hilal did not materialize. The 22-year-old forward was not even registered by Al Hilal in the Saudi League and had been working towards being transferred in this transfer window, which closes at 11:59 pm (Brasília time).
A product of Santos, Marcos Leonardo has been with Al Hilal since last season, when he was acquired from Benfica for 40 million euros. Since then, he has played 43 official matches, scoring 29 goals and providing three assists. Without Marcos Leonardo, São Paulo announced on the final day of the window the return of another forward: Argentine Emiliano Rigoni, who had a previous spell at the Morumbi in 2021.
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