Cruzeiro’s new owner “financed” Arrascaeta, took the club to court and criticized “absurd salaries” | cruise

Cruzeiro: meeting day between Ronaldo and Pedro Lourenço had a “tour” by Mattos at Toca

Pedrinho, as he is known by his friends, will officially participate in Cruzeiro football for the first time in history. But in practice, he has been active behind the scenes for much longer. He participated in at least five administrations in more than 15 years.

The businessman contributed money to Cruzeiro for some signings throughout the period. He helped, for example, to put together the winning teams of the Brazilian Championship (2013 and 2014) and the Copa do Brasil (2017 and 2018). The most notable signing was Arrascaeta, an undeniable piece of technical return, but which also generated a clash in court.

The Uruguayan stood out at Defensor and had an agreement in place with Internacional, but Cruzeiro gave the Gauchos a “hat” and signed the contract in 2015. At the time, Pedrinho lent, in the name of his company, R$6 million to the club in exchange of 25% of Arrascaeta rights.

Arrascaeta made history with Cruzeiro and was sold to Flamengo, at the beginning of 2019, for around R$55 million. Pedro, therefore, would have been entitled to receive around R$13.7 million, which did not happen. Throughout 2019, the businessman notified the club’s management. Unsuccessfully, he went to court.

That same year, Pedro Lourenço also took Cruzeiro to court to obtain part of the value from the sale of right-back Mayke to Palmeiras. This was due to an agreement reached in 2013, under the management of Gilvan de Pinho Tavares, when 20% of the player’s rights were transferred to Lourenço’s company.

Still in 2019, Cruzeiro and Pedro Lourenço’s defenses approved an agreement at the Belo Horizonte Civil Court, and the club signed a commitment to pay R$11.5 million to the businessman, ending both processes.

At the end of that year, Cruzeiro was relegated to Series B of the Brazilian Championship. Then president, Wagner Pires de Sá resigned from his position amid management’s involvement in police investigations. He began managing a transitional council, of which Pedro Lourenço was part of at the beginning.

But it didn’t last long. On January 9, 2020, before the Campeonato Mineiro even started, Pedro Lourenço announced his resignation from the board and criticized the way football was conducted within the club. In the previous year, the professional cast had a salary of more than R$15 million per month.

– As a fan and businessman, I affirm that I will never exempt myself from helping the team, however I do not agree with such inconsistencies in management, statutes, absurd salaries, among other situations, which promote a hostile environment and disfavor the necessary emergency changes.

Despite having left the transitional management board, Pedro Lourenço returned to help Cruzeiro on more than one occasion, even before the arrival of Ronaldo’s team. In 2020, he participated in the signings of striker Marcelo Moreno and coach Felipão. In 2021, he also helped sign Vanderlei Luxemburgo.

In both years, he participated in the payment of debts to finalize punishments at FIFA and also helped Sérgio Santos Rodrigues’ management to settle outstanding salaries with the squad. With all his debts, he became the third largest creditor in the world. cruise in Judicial Recovery: more than R$28 million.

Even after Ronaldo’s arrival, when it was imagined that Pedro Lourenço would leave the scene in the day-to-day life of Cruzeiro football, the businessman remained present. In 2022, during Série B, he reached an agreement with SAF to occupy space on the back of the shirt, giving master space to a betting company.

Furthermore, last year, he contributed R$100 million to Cruzeiro football. The value will now be part of the composition for the purchase of 90% of the shares. This year, before reaching an agreement with Ronaldo, he was also willing to help the club in signing Matheus Pereira, who is on loan from Al Hilal until June.