Reports from Calciomercato indicate that Manchester United may be interested in signing teenage Brazilian sensation Richarlison. The 20-year-old Samba forward is scouted by many clubs including Italian giants AS Roma.
Brazilian players are always known for their flair and catch eyeballs at a young age. Richarlison is no exception, having shown his talent with Fluminese last season.
The Red Devils have sent their scouts to watch the youngster, with a view of making a bid. He is a star talent at his current club and is not short of suitors. Roma reportedly bid for him earlier this year but were shot down by Fluminese.
His agent, Renato Velasco, also admitted the interest from Sampdoria and Inter Milan too, who are also keeping close tabs on the Brazil Under-20 international. Velasco added that Richarlison is ready to play in Europe and has discussed with his client about playing in England and the Netherlands.
He told FCInterNews.it (h/t talkSport): “Yes, there is interest from a few clubs in your country. Inter and Sampdoria, yes, but not the Rossoneri, at least not right now. The truth is that he is ready to play for any club, big or small and there is a lot of speculation around him.”
“He is talking about Italy, but also England and Holland.”
Fluminese value the striker at £17.9million and that could be the deterring factor for all these three clubs. Is he worth this much?
Richarlison is quickly gaining a reputation as one the best young players coming out of Brazil. He joined Fluminese in January 2016 and has since broken into the first team. That itself is a testimony to his talent because Fluminese is one of the most successful clubs in Brazil.
Last season saw him play predominantly on the left wing in the 17 games that he played for his club. He scored 6 goals, having impressed with his fantastic pace and exquisite dribbling abilities. Experts were quick to anoint him as Neymar’s successor, although it is too early to talk of him in the same breath.
No doubt he is a promising star but that doesn’t make him worth £17.8million yet. This of course, reflects how skewed the transfer market is – even if you take into consideration that he is just 20-year-old.
Will He Fit Into Our Club?
To be honest, our share of failures with Brazilian signings has been more than successful. The twins Fabio and Rafael were moderately successful while Anderson flattered to deceive. There are a lot of hopes on Andreas Pereira and this year could still see him deliver.
Richarlison has all the skills to be a success at Old Trafford – pace, skill and hard-working ability. The only question is if he has the mental ability to cope with the pressures of playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world.
