Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis considers his bid to invest in Sao Paulo as closed after months of negotiations.
That’s according to journalist Jorge Nicola, who report that Edu Gaspar has been pushing the deal along in Brazil and recently spent three days in the country to sign a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with Sao Paulo.
This is a ‘letter of intent’ from the Nottingham Forest owner and Sao Paulo regarding the agreement for the Greek businessman to invest in the Brazilian side’s youth set up.
Marinakis will invest around €100m over a five-year period to hire athletes for the youth team and will then receive a percentage on players sold from the academy in future. A small part of the €100m will be invested in the first team.
The Nottingham Forest owner and his team already consider the deal as closed, and Edu has already told those close to him that everything is on course and there is no turning back.
Only ‘bureaucratic issues’ regarding deadlines that need to met are standing in the way and the belief is the deal will be announced in the middle of the year.
The deal is seen as a major plus for Sao Paulo, who will have one of the most competitive youth sectors in Brazilian football and plan to rival Palmeiras, who have produced the likes of Estevão, Vitor Roque, Hendrick and Luis Guilherme in recent years.