Barcelona have a rich history of Brazilian players within their ranks. Arthur Melo, Philippe Coutinho, Neymar, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Romario, Ronaldinho…
Everton’s Richarlison was the latest to be linked with a move to the Catalan club, but as MailOnline note, it was a complete surprise to the player.
“I was at home playing video games online with my friends back home in Brazil,” he said. “When I suddenly started receiving all these messages from people asking if the Barcelona story was true.
“I didn’t know anything about it. My agent spoke to Everton and it was nothing, just rumours. It’s nice to have recognition but I want to continue to score goals and do well here.”
Even if there appears to have been nothing in it at this stage, it would be easy to understand why a potential future move for the player would make sense.
At just 22 years of age, he has the footballing world at his feet. A nimble and deceptively strong centre-forward, he certainly has an eye for goal, and in a Barca side which relies on a mixture of pace, movement and touch from their strikers, Richarlison would slot right in.
Though they have Messi, Griezmann and Fati fit at the moment, none of the trio are true centre-forward material, even if they can and have played in that role previously. Ditto Ousmane Dembele.
Luis Suarez remains the benchmark, but his best days are behind him now. If Barca are intending on building a solid squad for the future, they could do worse than Richarlison.