Brasileiro club São Paulo has changed its strategy "and invested R$45M ($22M)" in reinforcements this year, according to Marcelo Prado of GLOBO ESPORTE. In addition to the signing of Paulo Henrique Ganso from Santos, which was the highest transfer fee in Brazilian football, the club has signed another 10 players. Since his arrival in '06, club President Juvenal Juvêncio "has always been known for his rigid posture in negotiations." In his first years in charge, Juvêncio "was known for contracting players that were at the end of their contracts from other teams," saving São Paulo large amounts of money in transfer fees. The problem was that the players would finish out their contracts for the club then leave for more money. This was the case with Argentinian midfielder Dario Conca in '08. The player cost São Paulo R$650,000 on a loan with the possibility of buying his rights at the end of the year, but the club declined as Juvêncio believed "he was too expensive." Conca ended up playing for Fluminense, where he became the "best player in the Brasileiro." Fluminense sold the player to Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande for R$24M ($11.8M). Now "everything has changed." For the year, São Paulo has spent R$45M on 11 players, "the most the club has spent in the past five years" (GLOBO ESPORTE, 9/27)
