Manchester United are paying £18 million to Sao Paulo this summer

Manchester United are paying £18 million to Brazilian club Sao Paulo this summer thanks to transfer clauses.

Widespread reports on Sunday night claimed United had reached an agreement to sign top target Antony from Ajax in a whopping £84 million deal - a record for an Eredivisie transfer.

The Brazil international has been desperate to link up with Erik ten Hag again and according to Fabrizio Romano, is poised to sign a contract until 2027 but with the option of an extra year.

Antony to Manchester United, here we go! Agreement in principle with Ajax, €100m fee. Contract until June 2027 with option until 2028. To be signed tomorrow. 🚨🔴🇧🇷 #MUFC

Contracts being prepared, it’s Eredivisie historical record fee — Antony will be in Manchester next week. pic.twitter.com/Wr9mUiX1Ud

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 28, 2022

Antony will become the second player Ten Hag has acquired from his former club, who also received a fee of £57 million for defender Lisandro Martinez.

But Sao Paulo, Antony's first club, are also in line for a huge financial windfall. He joined the academy of his local club in 2010 and went on to play 52 times for the first-team.

He left for Ajax in a £13 million move two years ago and Sao Paulo were able to negotiate a 20 per cent sell on clause in his contract.

That clause, coupled with a solidarity and training compensation payment of 2.7 per cent, means they are in line to receive a tidy £16.7 million.

São Paulo, Antony's former club, are set to earn £16.7m from the player's move to #mufc (20% sell-on clause and 2.7% due to the solidarity mechanism/training compensation) [@thirfernandes]

— utdreport (@utdreport) August 28, 2022

Yet that's not all for the Tricolor as five-time Champions League winner Casemiro, United's new £70 million purchase from Real Madrid, also came through the ranks at Sao Paulo.

São Paulo set to cash-in from Manchester United transfers for the second time in two weeks, via solidarity payments. Casemiro and Antony spent a combined 21 years at the Brazilian club before their moves to Europe. https://t.co/jM8b4pmxoK

— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) August 28, 2022

With the same ruling in place, Globo say Sao Paulo are entitled to collect around £1.7 million from the deal for helping Casemiro learn his trade as a youngster.

In total, the pair of Brazilians spent 21 years at Sao Paulo before making the switch to Europe to further their careers.

The three-time Copa Libertadores winners have quite the track record when it comes to developing talent, as the likes of David Luiz, Ederson, David Neres, Lucas Moura and Eder Militao all spent time at Sao Paulo.