5 newly transferred Brazilians to watch out for next season
The country that made the world fall in love with the Beautiful Game, Brazilian players have always been coveted by the world’s elite football clubs.
These players who were raised in the finest traditions of Jogo Bonito have always figured prominently in the thinking of clubs across the world from Asia to Europe and even Africa.
Even though the Brazilian national team failed to match expectations at the just concluded World Cup in Russia, it has not diminished the appeal they hold for European and Asian clubs.
Hardly a day goes by without the mention of a Brazilian player being linked to a big money move to one of Europe’s or Asian elite sides.
After all, the most expensive player in the history of football is Neymar (€220m to PSG from Barcelona), while Philippe Coutinho is the third most expensive (€120 million to Barcelona from Liverpool).
A lot of Brazilian players have already moved for huge sums in this window (Paulinho’s re-signing on loan by Guangzhou Evergrande could eventually cost the Chinese outfit €50m).
Over £300m has already been spent on Brazilian talents in this window: Vinicius Jnr. to Real Madrid for £40m, Fabinho to Liverpool from AS Monaco for £40m among others.
Here is a look at 5 top Brazilians who have changed clubs in this window and what to expect from them:
#5 Arthur Melo (Gremio to FC Barcelona)
The central midfielder finally joined Barcelona last month in a £35.5m deal after it was announced in January.
The highly-rated midfielder has finally made the move to Europe even though he has been on the radar of scouts for a while now.
The 21-year-old took the option of honing his game at Brazilian Serie A club Gremio before jumping to make a move to Europe. It was a decision that has helped him become a better player.
A central midfielder by profession, Arthur is cut from a cloth different from the gaggle of central midfielders Brazil has produced in recent years.
The country of midfield geniuses like Zico, Socrates among others has seemingly become the nation of choice for defensive and box-to-box midfielders and not deep-lying playmakers or registas.
Arthur is more similar to the Spanish central midfielders like Andres Iniesta or Thiago Alcantara in the way he seeks to dictate play and control the tempo.
Set to be Don Andres’ replacement, the youngster may not immediately get into the Barca First XI next season but given how his style fits into Barcelona’s tiki-taka ethos, he is definitely going to have a part to play in Ernesto Valverde’s team.