São Paulo defender Welington has already signed a pre-contract agreement with Southampton, who will now move to try and sign him ahead of January.
That’s according to Ge Globo, who report how Southampton have sealed the player’s signature and even managed to beat off competition from Torino thanks to that agreement.
First and foremost, Globo report that Welington has signed a pre-contract agreement with Southampton which will see him join the Saints on a free transfer in the January transfer window.
Welington has signed a four-year deal with the Saints, who informed São Paulo of the agreement on Wednesday.
The player accepted the proposal from Southampton two weeks ago but was still dealing with contract details. Now they’ve been resolved, and he’s even had a medical and passed that.
His current deal with São Paulo runs until December but Southampton are now considering negotiating with the Tricolor board to bring the player’s move forward and have him join them in the coming weeks instead.
São Paulo have not ruled out this happening but want to receive money and not just part of the economic rights. They will continue to use the player normally until any agreement is reached.
His agent has confirmed the deal for him to arrive in January, though, and insists talks will now take place on bringing that forward.
“Welington has his future defined. The club has already received a statement from the English team,” Robson Ferreira is quoted as saying.
“Now, we have to wait for negotiations between Southampton and São Paulo to find out whether the athlete will be transferred in this transfer window, or at the end of our current season.
“Since the beginning of the month, Welington has won the right to negotiate about his career. We had several offers, but playing in the Premier League, at a traditional club like Southampton, which created a project for the player, weighed too much. It is the recognition of the athlete’s football on the international stage.”
The fact they’ve agreed that deal is good news for Southampton as Globo report that Italian side Torino also ‘tried to negotiate’ for the player.
They tried to hold talks with São Paulo that would have seen him stay with the Brazilian club, offering €2.3m to sign him, made up of €1m now and the rest in bonuses.
But that has been trumped by Southampton, who already have him signed up and are now working on bringing that forward.
Their current idea is to offer São Paulo a percentage of the player’s economic rights, something that is currently being rejected as the Brazilians would prefer upfront cash.
