When the best young footballing talent in the world becomes available it stands to reason that some of Europe’s best teams will be lining up to make a pitch for their services, though Man City and Chelsea could have a fight on their hands if they want to land one particularly talented Brazilian.
At just 16 years of age, Estevao Willian, more commonly known as Messinho, is courting the interest of many of the top clubs around the world.
TeamTalk note that Real Madrid, Man United, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona are all keeping tabs on a mercurial player that none of them will be able to sign professionally until he’s 18.
The outlet also note that it’s the Catalan giants that appear to be the front runners in what’s clearly going to be a long-term chase.
Barca have a long list of Brazilian stars that have worn the Blaugrana shirt with pride, including Ronaldo Nazario, Ronaldinho, Romario and Rivaldo.
The player’s own preference is to join that role call of Selecao superstars, meaning that any of the other teams mentioned will need to go above and beyond to not only convince his current club, Palmeiras, to part with him, but persuade the player that he is far more likely to achieve his ambitions at anywhere other than the new Camp Nou.