For a very long time, Brazil not only produced some of the most entertaining football to watch, but also some of the best attackers to ever play the position.
However, that altered at some point in the 21st century.
Following several generations of producing world-class center forwards, Brazil suffered greatly when Adriano’s incredible potential was not realized and Ronaldo’s abilities started to decline.
In the early 2010s, there was a lot of talk linking Leandro Damiao to Tottenham, but Richarlison did his best to keep it quiet. Alexandre Pato was the closest the Selecao has come to becoming a great attacker since the glory days.
And even though the initial indications were quite encouraging, everything fell apart pretty rapidly after making a splash in Milan.
With the rise of a particular Marcos Leonardo, though, it might all be about to change.
Leonardo, who was raised in the state of Bahia, relocated to Sao Paulo when he was 14 years old, and he has been working at Santos ever since. He developed his skills at a club where some of the best players in his country got their start.
The 20-year-old may be familiar to you, mainly since over the past few months, he has been frequently mentioned in connection with a move to Europe.
Manchester United and Roma are reportedly interested. That is the ultimate praise given their glaring goal deficit despite adding Rasmus Hojlund.
Not much is lacking from his game already, thanks to his incredible hairline, psychic grasp of how to put the ball in the net, and magical right foot.
When you combine all of that with the most inspirational first and last name ever—”I’m destined to be an all-timer footballer”—all the indicators imply that Leonardo is the next great striker from Brazil.
But other from his flawless appearance and voice, what attributes does he really have?
As we mentioned before, for a 20-year-old, his finishing IQ is already really keen.
He scored five goals in as many games for Brazil at the under-20 World Cup, and he finished the 2023 Santos season with an incredibly impressive 20 goals from 40 games.
However, none of that appeals to you. And most importantly, he passes the vision exam with flying colors.
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