Brazil's top talents in Europe: From war to Madrid and Pep's praise
Sávio
Troyes/on loan to PSV
winger, age: 18 (born 2004)
He's fast and likes to jink past the defenders. And he's really good at it. In short, imagine Vinicius Junior, four years younger, left-footed and destroying the opposition on the other flank. At 18, he's already a sensation. Savio, also known as Savinho in Brazil, is set to be the next top-class winger to wow Europe. At the age of 16, he was given his first chance in Atletico Mineiro's first team by coach Jorge Sampaoli. Last season, he captivated the Brazilian Serie A. Arsenal, Leipzig and Salzburg were all over him. In the end, Manchester City's affiliate won - Troyes paid over 6 million euros for the skilful footballer last summer. However, the French club did not enjoy his talent. He immediately headed on loan to PSV Eindhoven, where a knee injury slowed him down. This also cost him the South American Under-20 Championship, where Brazil triumphed. He should be fit after recovering at the Manchester facility and is gradually making his way back onto the pitch. And he should be a nice refresher for PSV, who are trying to salvage their season.
Vinicius Tobias
Shakhtar/on loan to Real Madrid
full back, age: 18 (born 2004)
Real Madrid fans can't wait for the day he gets a chance in the first team. In the third-league reserve under guidance of the legendary Raúl González, he is growing every day and is an important part of the starting line-up. "He has made great progress in the last four or five months. He has tremendous quality in attack and is allowing himself to do more and more daring things. As far as defence is concerned, he still has to work on certain aspects of his game. The switch to a three-at-the back system, in which he acts as a right wingback, has definitely helped him," the Madrid coach said before Christmas.
The Sao Paulo native is living an incredible story. A year ago, he joined Shakhtar Donetsk, but just a few days later, the war in Ukraine started. Tthe young Brazilian certainly had a different idea of celebrating his 18th birthday than hiding in the shelters. He managed to escape from Ukraine, bombed by the Russian army, back home. But that's when Real stepped in and negotiated a one-year loan deal with Shakhtar representatives, with an option expected to be around €15 million. That this is likely to be a formality for the Madrid colossus is almost clear. "Not only Raúl is praising him, Carlo Ancelotti is also watching him closely and has praised him several times," points out Brazilian Flashscore News senior editor Daniel Ottoni. He adds that scout Jos Botoo, who brought him to Shakhtar, said of Tobias that "he is a no. 10 playing on the wing".
Robert Renan
Zenit St. Petersburg
centre back, age: 19 (born 2003)
While many footballers fled Russia last year and this year, the promising centre-back willingly made his way East. Probably willingly... One of Corinthians' biggest talents was part of a swap for compatriot Yuri Albert and another wider collaboration. The Russians didn't add a penny for him. Yet Renan was on the radar of clubs in England, there was even speculation about interest from Inter Milan or Real. The Brazilian is one of the game's top centre-backs. How to interpret this? “Just kick it to the stands” is not in his vocabulary. He steals the ball in the tackle, frees himselfs up in a neat move le and immediately launches a counter-attack. That's the 19-year-old defender.
Even though this left-footed player is almost 190 centimetres tall, he wants to play constructively, he is dynamic, he has decent speed.He had a nice performance in Russia - in the first game he had an 86% pass success rate, won three defensive duels out of five, didn't commit a foul and made three dribbles out of four. Many fans on social media are saying he's wasted in Russia. They say he should be developing in better leagues...
"Yet he only made the Corinthians first team last year, played just 13 games and disappeared. He was one of the club's biggest talents," Daniel Ottoni adds. In February, Renan won gold with the Brazilian team at the South American Under-20 Championship. A few days ago, he was invited to join the senior national team for a friendly against Morocco. He should book his tickets to the West in the near future.
VIDEO: Robert Renan in action for Brazil U20
Metinho
Troyes/on loan to Lommel
midfielder, age: 19 (born 2003)
Another canary that City Football Group has lured to its colony. Although Metinho didn't become Brazilian immediately. "Meto Silu arrived from Congo when he was only one year old. He came with his father, who fled the African country because of religious persecution," Daniel Ottoni tells the story. The Guardian selected him as one of the best U17 players on the planet in 2020. In South America, Metinho profiled himself as a central midfielder with good technique, strong in personal duels and great at reading the game.
The ironic thing about his story is that he played one game for Fluminense's first team and was already packing his bags for France. He was bought by Troyes for €5 million in 2021, as was later his compatriot Savinho. In France, however, acclimatization was delayed indefinitely due to an injury in the first training session, and so a loan spell at Belgian second division side Lommel was arranged before this season... It’s probably no surprise Lommel also belongs to the City Football Group network. Here Metinho is one of the most interesting midfielders. "I am getting used to European football, it is much more intense than in Brazil," he uttered. When he went to England to treat an injury, he met Pep Guardiola and the coach told him: "I've been watching you, I like your style, keep going."
Tiago Coser
Benfica
Age: 19 (born 2003)
When he was young, he helped his family raise various animals, including birds. At 18, he became one of them when he joined the Portuguese Eagles. In Lisbon, they're expecting big things from him. At such a young age, the centre-back has unprecedented calm, responsibility and leadership. His burly physique commands respect. In short, a natural leader brought up from poor conditions in Chapecó, the Brazilian region suffering economically. Yes, he was a player for Chapecoense, the club that was made world famous by the tragic event of 2016, when a plane carrying the club's squad crashed in Colombia, killing 71 people.
Coser's journey to Portugal has been a thorny one. He was given a chance in Brazil as a young player but returned to the youth categories again. "He had his sights set on Sao Paulo, but the transfer negotiations were cooled down by the COVID pandemic," says Ottoni. "But Benfica had been watching him since he was 17. As soon as he came of age, he became their player in January 2022 for just €1.4 million." If there is already talk of selling the only 19-year-old Antonio Silva, Benfica have a replacement lined up. The Portuguese believe they have the potential in him, for another big sale, like Ruben Dias, who was sold to Manchester City for around €70 million three years ago.
