Sometimes it’s obvious that a player left their home country too soon, so it’s always interesting to see how they bounce back from that.
Brazilian midfielder Gerson was very highly rated as a kid, and he moved to Roma as a teenager with only one full season under his belt, and it proved to be too much too soon.
There were concerns about his lack of physicality and pace, so he returned to Brazil after failing to really establish himself at Roma or on loan at Fiorentina.
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You could almost forgive him for feeling sorry for himself after that, but he knuckled down at Flamengo and has shown everyone that he’s still very talented.
He’s still only 22, but he’s closing in on 200 senior appearances in his career and looks ready for another crack at Europe, so a report from ESPN makes for interesting reading.
They report that Gerson’s father has claimed that Arsenal are interested in making a move for him, although he does stress that his son is very happy where he is.
It’s an interesting time for the player because he needs to get his next move right. Rarely do we see a player get a second crack at Europe after failing, and you have to think he won’t get a third if his next move goes wrong.