Having previously steered clear of making a habit of regularly delving directly into the South American market, recent months have seen a plethora of Latin America-based stars linked with a move to Liverpool Football Club.
Fluminense midfielder André and Sao Paulo defender Lucas Beraldo have both been indexed with a move to Anfield as Jurgen Klopp continues to freshen things up on Merseyside.
Now another new name has emerged from the Southern Hemisphere as Corinthians teenage sensation Gabriel Moscardo has been linked with a switch to The Reds as well as a host of Europe’s elite.
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To find out more about the 18-year-old, Dan spoke to Sao Paulo-based Brazilian journalist and Liverpool fan João Lima.
“Hello friends, It’s a pleasure to talk to you. Let’s talk about the young Brazilian Gabriel Moscardo, 18 years old, a midfielder who currently plays for Corinthians, but who has already been receiving inquiries from several European clubs such as Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and more recently PSG, so I believe he won’t stay here for long. on Brazilian and South American soil.
“Gabriel Moscardo is a number 5, but despite not playing with number 5 he is a midfielder who protects the defense who disarms and who also knows how to play. His main characteristic is his tackling, but in addition to his tackling he also knows how to play very well with the ball with his foot, he can make very beautiful passes. He is that player who disarms and finds the pass to his teammate. He finds a pass to the attacker on the free left, who makes long throws. He is a player aware of what he is doing. There’s a play against Cruzeiro, in the Brazilian championship, where he disarms the attacker in his defence field, passes it to his teammate on the free side, who clears the play and ends up scoring a goal, the tackle was excellent. Incredible.
“He appeared in the professional team at the age of 17 and was already impressing upon his debut, in a team that was completely disorganised and technically bad and in the short time since he debuted he managed to organize the midfield. He’s the player who organizes the team from behind, a classic and a very good player, so when he appeared here at Corinthians you could already imagine that proposals from European teams would appear because he seems to be different. Comparing it to a Premier League player, not saying that he is already at the same level, but that he has the potential to be, it would be Declan Rice, from Arsenal, has very similar characteristics. He would not be able to be a starter at any club, but the best path for him would be Liverpool due to the lack of a number 5 and he has a difference in that he already speaks English, speaking English with Klopp he can perform in a very short time, his characteristics may fit with the team as Liverpool.
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“Chelsea have already signed Andrey Santos, currently on loan to Nottingham Forest, another player who has similar characteristics to him who also appeared here in Brazil with very high expectations.
“I think he (Moscardo) would adapt to a PL but he wouldn’t be able to become a starter, but in a short time, he would be able to show his football despite his young age. Young, but very mature, very aware, he can make incredible passes, marked by two or three he can find a pass in a spectacular way.
“He is a midfielder who does have a future in the main Brazilian team, despite the great competition because there is Casemiro, there is André from Fluminense, there is Bruno Guimarães but I think that with him playing in the PL and with more experience he has the capacity to be called up to the Brazilian team. I think that whoever hires this player won’t regret it because he has a lot of expectations of being a great player more than he already is and he can become even greater.
“His strengths are disarming and clarifying plays and his weakness is how every young player fluctuates a lot within the game, within a game in which he is playing well he ends up disappearing from the game. It’s not like him, but he can miss a tackle by acting a little nervous or hasty. So I think he’s enough to add to any club he goes to, so it’s no surprise he’s being talked about all over the world because of the football he’s been playing, because of his age, if I were the manager of a European club I wouldn’t be afraid to bet on him.
“That’s it guys, it was a pleasure talking to you, thank you.”
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Capped once by Brazil at the Under 23 level, Moscardo is clearly a player already performing beyond his years and with 24 senior domestic outings already under his belt, whilst it’s still a fledgeling career, there is certainly a wonderful talent on the radar.
Boasting strengths in the aerial, dribbling, tackling, shooting and interception departments, the young Brazilian is far more than a defensive midfielder and would bring a wealth of attributes to Klopp’s squad.
Likely to be sold for the mooted £21.4million fee and with Thiago likely to leave at the end of the season, this is a transfer Liverpool should be looking at very seriously.
