Paraguayan left back Diego León arriving in July

How’s our record in signing South Americans at this age? Pellistri was signed at a similar age and didn’t succeed, Rafael and Fabio were signed at a similar age and did succeed (imo). No one else jumps out from recent’ish times but I’m probably forgetting some obvious ones.
Rafael won 3 Premier Leagues with us.
 
How many times in football can you say that not only have you never heard of a player, but also the club he plays for? :lol:

Paraguay? So obscure.
 
I’d have to spend about two hours searching South American international youth teams to find a player like this on FM.
 
Well, he seems quick, physical, energetic, and can pass/put in a cross, so he's already ahead of Rashford and Garnacho. If he isn't a perma-crock then he beats Shaw too.
 
If true, the. It would suggest so
Yeah it's a coin toss I guess, but looking at the state of our finances, I doubt we're getting Davies anyway (plus the fact he still has BM & RM as options).
I don't think so. Thi seems more in the mould of Kone or Chido Obi transfers for the youth team
Could be true as well. A bit of a signing with a long term view which would be warning signs for Amass, IMO.
 
I love the South or Central American signings. I don't know why I just assume theyl be a hit every time :lol:
 
How many times in football can you say that not only have you never heard of a player, but also the club he plays for? :lol:

Paraguay? So obscure.
Cerro Porteño, also known as El Ciclòn, are from the capital of Paraguay, and are 34 times league champions of Paraguay. They have reached the Copa Libertadores semi-finals six times and the Copa Sudamericana twice, which means that they are one of the ever present challengers of South American football but have a terrrible relationship with semi finals.
 
Rafael won 3 Premier Leagues with us.
I think many have an unrealistic view of what is a success.

Ultimately if you pick up a young talent for relatively little fee and they become part of the first team squad then that’s a hit. Even more so if that squad goes on to be successful.

Someone like Garnacho, for example, is already a success. Picked up for a few hundred thousand at 15 and now established in the first team set up and at international level. This is despite what some on the Caf would say about him.
 


He turns 18 in April. Wilcox mentioned as being involved in getting this done. Hard to get information about him, but he looks fast and technically sound from the clips on YT. See his height being reported as 170cm, 177cm, and 194cm so total guesswork.

Interesting development.

He’s 17?! Looks older.

Good if true and he’s decent.. we need cover with Shaw maybe (finally) leaving and Dalot being…. Dalot.
 
Glad to see the club looking at this kind of move more often and seeking to cut out the Brighton/Dortmund/whoever shaped middleman.

Could take ten punts at that kind of price, and if one of them so much as turns into a solid squad player for us, we're probably coming out ahead.
 
He’s 17?! Looks older.

Good if true and he’s decent.. we need cover with Shaw maybe (finally) leaving and Dalot being…. Dalot.
No one is buying Luke Shaw :D with his wage and injury record it would be madness. Malacia, best we will get is a £5m sale by to the Dutch league. People need to start realising alot of our players are not sellable, we either have to run their contract out or sell them on the cheap. Just look at some of the leavers from last season...Varane....retired....Martial...greek league....they are undesirables with any institution that claims to be sane.
 
No one is buying Luke Shaw :D with his wage and injury record it would be madness. Malacia, best we will get is a £5m sale by to the Dutch league. People need to start realising alot of our players are not sellable, we either have to run their contract out or sell them on the cheap. Just look at some of the leavers from last season...Varane....retired....Martial...greek league....they are undesirables with any institution that claims to be sane.
I said leave not sell
 
If he was that good, he would have been signed by Brighton already.
He broke through this year so he is still in that phase were he would get a lot of scouting but no concrete offers. His club would want to hold on longer, enjoy him and attract higher bids later.

Unless there's a bidding war ramping up the fee I wouldn't expect him here during this campaign.
 
This is like the Kone and Chido Obi situation, Radcliffe said he wants to find the next superstars, he's searching from England, Africa and South America for them.
 
He is 18 in April. So you can't aggregate him with the team this winter but only next summer.
 
Wouldn't be surprised if it's an Amorim suggestion, you'd think he'll have a list of cheaper young options that Sporting were looking at.
 
This is like the Kone and Chido Obi situation, Radcliffe said he wants to find the next superstars, he's searching from England, Africa and South America for them.
Agree with this take.
 
The Moneyball save of Manchester United rebuild. I approve!
 
The ratings in the intro and the video don't match, in a good way. Maybe one-footed, but so were some of the best players in the world, that's not deal-breaker people think it is. Also a bit chunky, but same thing.

The rating 2/10 for 'injury-prone' does need a bit of investigating though.

Yeah I never even look at that, will trust my own judgement. As for being one footed its what you'd expect from a very young fullback and I dont think its particularly vital for being a speedy overlapping fullback.
 
Looks more full back than a wing back.

I wouldnt mind it because i dont want 4 wingbacks in the squad - 2 wingbacks & 2 fullbacks seem balanced.
 
Don't know anything about him but any rated player from south America that cost 3M it's hardly a bad punt. If it doesn't work it's only 3M so I say recruit as many as possible.
 
I hope it’s true, we need to be regularly making signings like who either go out on loan or into the first team squad for development. Also need more money spent on signings for the academy, transfer funds should be spread round more rather than throwing huge sums on a handful of players.

Even if Leon didn’t amount to much you can probably sell and break even or make a small profit in PSR terms. Better off with a lot more up and coming players than taking big gambles on likes of Antony.
 
Interesting signing, would assume the intention is that he'll be fast tracked into the first team considering all that's come out about the academy over the last few days.
 
Exciting and looks really promising from the clips. The Athletic are reporting it so it looks very credible and could be imminently confirmed.

I think we have to accept that we’re currently in the position where cheap ‘hidden gem’ talents and youth promotion might be our best route to overhauling the squad to the extent we may need to. We can’t keep paying £50m+ for every signing, especially while funds and PSR restrictions are tight.
 
Cerro Porteño, also known as El Ciclòn, are from the capital of Paraguay, and are 34 times league champions of Paraguay. They have reached the Copa Libertadores semi-finals six times and the Copa Sudamericana twice, which means that they are one of the ever present challengers of South American football but have a terrrible relationship with semi finals.
He'll fit right in then
 
Rafael won 3 Premier Leagues with us.

I think many have an unrealistic view of what is a success.

Ultimately if you pick up a young talent for relatively little fee and they become part of the first team squad then that’s a hit. Even more so if that squad goes on to be successful.

Someone like Garnacho, for example, is already a success. Picked up for a few hundred thousand at 15 and now established in the first team set up and at international level. This is despite what some on the Caf would say about him.
The original post said Rafael did succeed