This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Brazil has long been a conveyor belt for talent, and a lot of their star names have made their name in Europe’s biggest leagues.
In the distant past, they often stayed in their homeland. The likes of Pele and Garrincha spent their whole careers in the country of their birth, whilst others such as Zico, Jairzinho and Socrates spent minimal time in this continent.
However, from the 1990s onwards, we have seen a huge influx of talent from the South American land. Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, for example, picked up five Ballon d’Ors between them whilst playing for European teams, and the likes of Rivaldo and Neymar have also achieved success with Barcelona, for example.
As such, we have seen the number of Brazilians to make the move across the Atlantic Ocean increase with each passing year. One of the more recent arrivals was the highly-rated Gabriel Barbosa.
He started his career with Santos, just like Pele and Neymar, and some thought he could be the man to follow in their footsteps, particularly the latter – he was previously dubbed the new Neymar. Internazionale even parted with €25m (£21m) for his services in 2016 when he was 20 years old.
However, it didn’t really work out for him at the San Siro, with him scoring just once in 10 matches. He has since spent the last two years out on loan, at Benfica and back in Brazil.
He has won the Copa Libertadores with current outfit Flamengo, and they are likely to face Liverpool in the Club World Cup final as a result. Talking about his compatriot Roberto Firmino, he has indicated that he would love a move to Anfield at some point in the future. He said: “Firmino is great, I really admire him. He’s been successful for many years in Europe. It would be a pleasure to play with him. Maybe we could team up for Brazil in the future and Liverpool is a team that everyone wants to play for.”
Big words from a striker with a chequered record. The move back home has appeared to rejuvenate him, to be fair. In 82 matches since his return, he has scored 53 goals and has also provided 12 assists. This season alone, he has 34 goals to his name, and he has helped his team complete a double by also winning the Brazilian Serie A.
However, the problem he has is that he has the Internazionale period on his C.V, whilst he also managed just five appearances on loan at Benfica during the 2017/18 term. His failure to adapt to European football would have Liverpool worried about signing him should ever be on their radar, something of which there is no indication as it stands.
Can you name the result these iconic Liverpool images belong to? Give it a go now…
His career in Europe may not be over, of course. He is only 23 after all, but it would be bad business for Liverpool to make a move for him, especially considering that Antonio Conte and co want to recoup most of the money they parted with for the Selecao international.
Perhaps Barbosa should temper his ambitions for now.
In other news, Liverpool have returned the favour to Everton following Marco Silva’s sacking.
