Sports
Flamengo Ends Talks with Zenit for Luís Henrique
Russian club rejected a €30M installment bid and demanded full upfront payment for the forward.
Negotiations between Flamengo and Luís Henrique have collapsed without an agreement with Zenit. The Brazilian club offered installments and performance bonuses, but the Russian side demanded the full fee upfront. This marks another transfer setback for Flamengo following their missed pursuit of Almada.
The transfer saga between Flamengo and Luís Henrique has ended unfavorably for the Rio de Janeiro club. The forward's representatives announced that talks have closed for now, confirming that the Rubro-Negro failed to meet the demands set by Zenit to finalize the deal.
In the video above, Bernardo Ramos breaks down the behind-the-scenes transfer dynamics and assesses the impact of these stalled deals on squad planning ahead of the season's decisive stretch.
PUBLICIDADE (GAM) — 1250x250
Zenit's Demands and Installment Bid
Flamengo's board proposed a €30 million deal paid in installments, alongside €5 million in add-ons. However, Zenit rejected the terms and demanded the entire sum upfront to release the player immediately. Bernardo highlights that the Russian club faces no financial pressure to sell and drives a hard bargain, similar to the sale of Gerson to Cruzeiro for a fixed €27 million plus €3 million in bonuses after originally arriving in Russia for €25 million.
Transfer Market Setbacks and José Boto's Role
The breakdown in talks for Luís Henrique marks Flamengo's second recent transfer window setback. Days earlier, Thiago Almada chose to join River Plate, a move orchestrated by Longoria, despite the Rubro-Negro offering a monthly salary of R$ 2,900,000.00—first reported by journalist Rodrigo Matos. Almada, a runner-up with Argentina at the 2026 World Cup, preferred returning to his home country.
According to Bernardo, sporting director José Boto led two high-profile negotiations and came away empty-handed in both. Consequently, Flamengo heads into the knockout stages of the Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores without the expected attacking reinforcements.
Budget Discipline and Squad Depth
Despite fan frustration, Flamengo is sticking to its policy of avoiding bidding wars and protecting its budget, in line with the first-half 2026 financial balance sheet analyzed by Professor Marcelo Munhoz. By contrast, rival Cruzeiro operates under a different capital injection dynamic as a SAF managed by Pedrinho Lourenço (Pedrinho BH).
Without new additions on the right wing, the squad managed by Leonardo Jardim—who knows their Minas Gerais rivals intimately from coaching them last season—will have to rely on in-house options such as Carrascal, Platô, and Luís Araújo.
PUBLICIDADE (GAM) — 1250x250
