Reinier Jesus is the
new signing of Real Madrid. At the age of 17, Reinier has caught the attention
of big clubs in Europe and in the end, he would be Real Madrid’s latest
Brazilian recruitment alongside Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes……
The era of Kaka and Robinho was coming to an end. A bunch of
talented youngsters from Brazil were ready to fulfill their unfinished business
in the upcoming decade. The likes of Neymar, Ganso, Pato, Marcelo, Dani Alves,
and Oscar were gearing up to set the stage on fire. The hierarchy of Real
Madrid always kept an eye on what happens in Brazilian football.
A kid named Neymar of Santos Football Club attracted the
Real Madrid think-tank, but at the end of the day, Neymar settled at camp Nou
and until today, the Real Madrid think-tank regrets for not bringing Neymar
earlier. It was a great lesson and for which, at present, Real Madrid does not
wait long to sign a young and talented Brazilian as soon as he hits the
headlines.
At first, Florentino Perez signed the Novo Neymar- Vinicius
Junior from Flamengo. Then, he went for Rodrygo Goes of Santos Football Club
and now, he is ready to bring Flamego’s 17-year old Reinier Jesus under his
wings. The mistake of Neymar must not be repeated and thus, day by day, Real
Madrid is becoming the nurturing center of talented Brazilians and without a
doubt, Santiago Bernabeu is the best place for a Brazilian to polish his talent
under the supervision of likes of Zinedine Zidane and Raul Gonzalvez.
***
Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, has given birth to famous
sportsmen like Kaka, Lucio, MarÃlson Gomes dos Santos, Joaquim Cruz,
Oscar Schmidt, Ketleyn Quadros and many more. Mauro Brasilia was one of the
sportsmen from the capital city. He was a futsal player and not a household
name. But still, his passion for the game kept him going. He gave birth to a baby
boy during the year when Selecao lifted the World Cup for the sixth time. It
was the year of carnival in Brazil and names like Kaka and Lucio became
demigods in Brasilia. Kaka and Lucio would grow in stature in the coming days.
But that little boy, Reinier Jesus, was too young to understand the impact of
those Brazilian Gods. He would only witness his father to spend time with a
ball on his feet. It was a major inspiration for Reinier to take football
seriously.
Reinier joined the youth academy of Vasco da Gama in 2011.
He moved to the Botafogo and Fluminense academies before joining Flamengo. His
control over the ball and composure did not go unnoticed by the scouts and
thus, he was called to the 2017 South American Under-15 Championship to
represent Brazil. He started against Ecuador and Venezuela and scored in both
matches. On 7 March 2018, Brazil U17 manager Paulo Victor Gomes called up
Reinier for the Montaigu Tournament in France. Reinier captained Brazil for the
2019 South American Under-17 Championship in Peru and started all 4 group stage
matches, scoring 3 goals.
Reinier made his senior team debut for Flamengo on 31 July
2019 in the second leg of Flamengo's Copa Libertadores tie against Emelec at
Maracana Stadium. Flamengo won by 2–0 and advanced in the competition on
penalty shootouts. He made his league debut against Bahia the following weekend
on August 4, 2019.
***
Aged just 17, Reinier has caught the imagination of big
clubs in Europe – Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Everton, Manchester
City, and Chelsea were after him, but when Real Madrid start tracking a young
talent, no one could stand a chance against them.
According to Marca, “Real Madrid will complete the signing
of Reinier Jesus from Flamengo when he turns 18 on January 19. All the
agreements are in place between both clubs and the midfielder ahead of the
move. Los Blancos will wait until his 18th birthday to complete the signing in
order to avoid getting in trouble with FIFA over transfers of underage
players”.
“Real Madrid will pay Reinier's 30 million euro release
clause after it was reduced from 70m euros upon signing his new contract with
Flamengo. Reinier will initially join up with Real Madrid's Castilla side,
which is coached by Raul, instead of going straight into the senior squad”.
***
Renier Jesus a tall and strong lad - The 6 feet 3-inch Samba
Boy possesses the ability to dribble past defenders at ease and provide
smooth-silky passes even when there remains a minimum of possibilities. His
such abilities have led critics to compare him with Kaka. Then, his penchant
for back-heel assists makes him a treat for the eyes, while his decent eye for
goals makes him a complete package. Moreover, when the matter is about playing
the role of a defensive midfielder at the center of the park according to the
demand of the situation, Reinier steps up immediately.
Through-balls, dribbling, passing, and finishing are his
strong points. He likes to play short-passes, do the lay-offs and scripts the
counterattacks in no time during transitions. In the aerial duels, still, he is
not stronger enough. Perhaps with the advance of age, he would overcome this
weakness. Again, he has weaknesses regarding long-balls.
While playing for Flamengo senior side, he has played five
times as an attacking midfielder and scored twice and assisted once. As
center-forward he played twice and scored once. As an attacking midfielder on
the left, he played once where he delivered a decent display. He came on as a
substitute six times to inject momentum in the game and proved quite
influential – 3 goals and 1 assist are not bad at all for a 17-year old.
In 14 games for Flamengo, Reinier’s numbers are:
- Goals: 6
- Touches: 25.3
- Key Passes: 0.7
- Passing Accuracy own-half: 84%
- Passing Accuracy opposition-half: 79%
- Long-ball Accuracy: 50%
-Chip-passing Accuracy: 60%
- Crossing Accuracy: 18%
- Interceptions in the game: 0.3
- Tackles per game: 1.2
- Successful dribbles: 80%
- Duels won: 46%
***
Brazilian left-back Felipe Luis said, “He has
surprised me at 17 in that he always chooses the correct option," Luis
said.
“When he has to pass, he passes; he plays with his head up.
It really is a great signing, I congratulate Real Madrid”.
“He isn't 100 percent ready. He is 17 years old but has
potential and a great future. Nobody is ever ready for a leap so vast at that
age, but in the future, he will be a great signing”.
“I remember Kaka because he played with his head up, and he
was lethal in the area. Reinier has even more quality than Kaka with his back
to goal. Time will tell whether or not he is like Kaka”.
While Phelipe Leal, the coach of Flamengo's Under-17 side
said, “As a 17-year-old, you can never be ready. Playing for the academy
of a professional club, one must go through a maturing process, and
Reinier is like any other talent. I think we must be very attentive with some
details, so he can have his mind in the right place and continue to show off
all his potential”.
No footballer is ready at the age of 17, but also, at such
ages, legends like Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo O Fenomeno, Cristiano Ronaldo and
Ronaldinho announced their arrivals. Such ages require proper nurturing and for
which, a journey to Real Madrid would be ideal for Reinier. Again, his role
model is Zinedine Zidane.
In an interview, he said, “I’m heavily inspired by
[Zinedine] Zidane. I’ve watched a lot of videos on the internet of him playing.
I’m always trying to execute plays as he did”.
It is a matter of time for Reinier’s dream to come true. If
he joins Real Madrid, he would be able to work with his role model Zidane. And
one can only expect this boy to improve at Santiago Bernabeu.
***
Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer on 06/01/2020 Reinier Jesus: The youngster from Brazil is ready to rock
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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