“A club like Botafogo, with millions of fans, gives many opportunities. Where there is that kind of passion, there is room for growth. And there is no debt too high for a global business model. It’s a huge debt for a club here, but the government made a law, which has made it possible to pay off that amount.”

Botafogo lost their opening game 3-1 to league leaders Corinthians , but were unbeaten in eight starts ( 5 wins) after that, including some really eye-catching results. It is hard to know what ambitions they have for this season, but you suspect way beyond the usual survival target. A new head coach came in, with experienced Luis Castro taking charge and some 13m € was spent on transfers immediately after , which was almost all the funds the club, as opposed to the company, got after the takeover and is substantial in Serie A terms. The other three promoted clubs spent about half a million between them and the total spent by Botafogo is about the same as the full squad value of Goiás . Castro teams dominate possession and his side had 72% of the ball in that most recent loss, his sides pass the ball quickly , many of you will have noticed that with his Shakhtar Donetsk teams. He likes to develop youth too and despite the quick fix in this last window, a club with a lot of youthful talent, will also see further and big investment in the academy. Textor has already brought in new sponsors and has invested heavily in the data and analytics department. This is a very interesting project and we can also talk about Cruzeiro, where similar things are happening and with an immediate upturn,  when the opportunity arises.

Good luck !