Corinthians announces the signing of full-back Matheus França, ex-Flamengo

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The soap opera between Matheus França, Matheuzinho, and Corinthians finally came to an end and with a happy ending. Timão announced, this Friday, the signing of the 23-year-old right-back, who was revealed by Londrina and had played for Flamengo since 2019. The defender signed a contract with the São Paulo team until the end of 2028.

The São Paulo club reached an agreement with Flamengo to buy 60% of the player’s economic rights for 4 million euros (around R$ 21.3 million at current prices) and overcame competition from Botafogo, which also wanted to hire a Matheus França before hitting with Damián Suárez.

— It was a dream of mine and my family. After a lot of struggle, thank God it worked. Today, I’m here, I’m training. If the teacher chooses to take me to the game, I’m ready to help my teammates — said the full-back in an interview with Corinthians TV.

Corinthians’ intention, initially, was to sign Matheus on loan, but the deal was not completed due to differences in the contract. It is worth remembering that the full-back even performed at Timão and participated in an open training session wearing the black and white uniform. However, the athlete had to return to Rio de Janeiro.

Corinthians even announced that they were out of any negotiations with Flamengo for the player, but resumed talks days later, this time to buy him permanently.

Matheus França is Corinthians’ eighth signing in 2024. Before him, the club announced defenders Gustavo Henrique and Félix Torres, left-backs Diego Palacios and Hugo, midfielder Raniele, midfielder Rodrigo Garro and striker Pedro Raul.

The expectation is that the number of reinforcements will increase, as Corinthians has signed midfielder Igor Coronado, from Al-Ittihad, who has already arrived in São Paulo to undergo medical examinations and sign the contract, and striker Pedro Henrique, from International.