Léo Pereira on Cruz Azul’s radar

The 25-year-old Brazilian central defender, Léo Pereira, is on Cruz Azul's radar to reinforce the team in the Clausura 2022 tournament. The Carioca press has echoed the Cementeros' interest in bringing this player to Liga MX.

According to information provided by the newspaper 'Jornal O Dia', Cruz Azul showed interest in the purchase of Léo Pereira and contacted the board of directors of Flamengo, the team to which he belongs, to know the values for a future transaction. However, they have initially refused to negotiate.

Flamengo wants to keep the center-back

Pereira seems to be a very important element in Flamengo, as in other windows they have already rejected offers from Besiktas from Turkish soccer. While other clubs abroad have sought his signing. "Recently, a Brazilian club also spoke with Flamengo about the possibility of negotiating with the defender," the source said.

Léo Pereira is on Cruz Azul's radar but it is a rather complicated deal, which is why many teams have pulled out of negotiations before a real offer has been made.

The defender, who came from the ranks of Club Atletico Paranaense, has a contract with Flamengo until December 2024. His contract is valued at US$ 4 million, however, the main problem is that Mengão paid US$ 8 million for the player. He is a left-footed center back with good ball control. He has played for the Brazilian National Team, but only in youth teams.

Cruz Azul’s departures

The Celeste club, for the Clausura 2022 tournament, has had five departures. The names of the players that no longer belong to Cruz Azul are  Walter Montoya, Yoshimar Yotún, Roberto Alvarado, Jonathan Rodríguez, who left Mexico to play for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia and Orbelín Pineda, who also left la Máquina for Celta de Vigo. The only player who remained in the Liga MX was Roberto Alvarado with Chivas de Guadalajara. 

Cruz Azul´s additions

However, Los Cementeros have also added five players to their roster. Erik Lira from Pumas, Charly Rodríguez from Monterrey, Uriel Antuna and Alejandro Mayorga from Chivas de Guadalajara and Christián Tabó from Puebla. The club is still looking for two more reinforcements, a center back, where Léo Pereira has been scouted and a striker to fill the position left by the Uruguayan Jonathan Rodríguez.