With Luciano and André on their way out, Corinthians have accelerated the search to sign a new forward for the second half of the season.
A representative of Corinthians is in Santa Catarina and he has had frequent meetings with the board of Criciúma and representatives of striker Gustavo. The 22-year-old is one of the top scorers of the Série B and has been a target for the club since a month. The one responsible for conducting the negotiations to sign Gustavo is club director Eduardo Ferreira. According to Lance!, the leader had traveled to Florianópolis two days ago and has talked to Criciúma president Jaime Dal Farra, and other leaders. The idea of Corinthians is to close an agreement in the next few hours and make the striker available to coach Cristóvão Borges as soon as possible. Both clubs have been in talks since July, but Criciúma asked €3.4 million for 100% of Guatavo’s economic rights. Criciúma are open to selling a a portion for proportional values, but the request of €1.7 million for 50% of the rights, for example, is deemed high by the current Brasileirão champions. Corinthians are negotiating to reduce the value, and they may even offer a player on loan. Gustavo drew attention in the market during the 2014 Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, when he was top scorer for Taboão da Serra. In addition to Corinthians, other clubs in the top-division had also sought Criciúma to express an interest in Gustavo.