Santos gives Luís Castro a deadline to respond if he accepts the proposal to coach the club

Santos gave Portuguese coach Luís Castro a deadline of this Tuesday (03) to answer whether or not he accepts being the team's commander next season. Peixe will compete in the Campeonato Paulista from January 15th and is in a hurry to define its new coach before the end of the year.

While waiting for Luís Castro's response, Santos has a plan B in case he doesn't sign the Portuguese. According to GE, Peixe has been in contact with Renato Gaúcho, who is expected to leave Grêmio at the end of this season.

Proposal close to expiration

Santos understands that they need to start planning for the 2025 season as soon as possible, so as not to make the mistakes of previous years, such as in 2023, when the club fell from division and had to compete in Series B for the first time in its history. .

To this end, the club gave Luís Castro a deadline of this Tuesday (03) to respond whether he accepts the position of new coach. If the Portuguese declines or does not respond, Santos understands that the proposal will lose its validity and will no longer pursue him.

Luís Castro is in no rush to define the future

Luís Castro and his team are aware of Santos' rush to close with the coach and plan the next season, but so far they haven't even commented on the proposal. Santos sent the proposal to the coach a few weeks ago and the club does not want the negotiation to turn into a soap opera and that is why they gave Castro that deadline.

In addition to Santos, Castro has proposals from abroad, from clubs in Saudi Arabia, where he was fired by Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr, and from Vasco da Gama, which wants the coach to lead a reformulation in the football department.

With the proposal in hand, Castro wants to define his future only after the end of the Brazilian Championship, which will be this coming Sunday (08) and is currently in Dubai. As GE found out, Santos' salary proposal for the Portuguese's technical committee is around 2 million reais per month, in addition to having the freedom to make decisions in the football department.

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_{Luís Castro's last team was Al-Nassr from Saudi Arabia (Photo: reproduction/Elie Hokayem/Saudi Pro League/Getty Images Embed)}

Plan B

If Luís Castro does not respond or declines Santos' proposal, the club is already working with some names, including foreigners and Brazilians, but one of them seems to be further ahead. Peixe would have resumed contacts with Renato Gaúcho, who could leave Grêmio at the end of the Brasileirão.

Renato's name pleases both the board and part of the fans, who see in the gaucho a great coach, who understands Brazilian football and who could make Santos play the way the fans like. There is no official proposal, but the club is working behind the scenes with the Grêmio coach's team to formalize an agreement this week.

Other names mentioned are Gustavo Quinteros, who currently leads Vélez in Argentina, leading the local championship, and the Portuguese Sérgio Conceição, who is unemployed and managed the Porto team, in Portugal, in 2023.

Santos planning for 2025

After the Series B title and access to the main division, Santos will reformulate the squad, as many athletes are at the end of their contracts and, with the arrival of a new coach, it would help the team to define the formation of the team for 2025 .

In addition to needing agility to assemble the squad, Santos has commitments made in the United States for a friendly tournament, as part of the preparation for next season.

Featured Photo: Luís Castro has proposals from Santos and Vasco for the 2025 season (Reproduction/Buda Mendes/Getty Images Embed)