West Ham United are interested in signing Sao Paolo defender Luizao, according to IG Esporte (via Sport Witness).Â
The lowdown: Rising star
A product of the academy at his hometown club, Luizao has spent his entire fledgling career at Sao Paolo until this point.
The 20-year-old central defender has made 12 first-team outings for the Brazilian outfit, however, has been allowed to enter the final 12 months of a contract.
Now, following reported interest from Premier League rivals Fulham, West Ham are seemingly paying close attention to Luizao…
The latest: Hammers interested
As per IG Esporte, translated by SW, the east Londoners are keen on bringing the starlet to England.
It’s claimed that the Brazilian – who has’t reached an agreement over a new deal – has ‘been in the crosshairs’ of the Irons and Fulham in recent days, with Porto and Benfica also named as potential suitors.
The report states that despite being able to sign a pre-contract agreement now, Luizao does ‘not think about performing such a move’ and instead will wait for January to complete a switch if a fee cannot be agreed upon.
The verdict: One to watch
While it’s nigh-on impossible to obtain a judgement based on such a small sample size, similar to the deal that brought Frederik Alves to the London Stadium, this is simply another case of GSB looking to get the next generation of stars in situ early.
Standing at 6 foot 1, Luizao certainly has the physical attributes to succeed at the top level as a central defender and an impressive 6.68 SofaScore rating whilst winning 2.5 duels, making 3.8 clearances and completing 94 per cent of all passes inside his own half would suggest strong defensive acumen.
In fact, the Irons’ own academy graduate, Ben Johnson, has only managed to win 2.0 duels on average per league outing so far this term.
Valued at £450,000 (Transfermarkt), snapping up the towering Brazilian for next to nothing would represent a no-risk option for West Ham that could prove to be a masterstroke in the long run.
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