He may not have the prestige of Gabriel Jesus, Gabigol or Neymar, but the Gremio starlet is already attracting some of Europe’s finest, including the Premier League champions
With the spotlight at August’s Rio Olympics set to be focused almost entirely on Brazil’s star-studded attacking trio of Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Gabigol, one of the more humble rising stars of Brazilian football could yet transform the ‘Golden Trio’ into a ‘Fantastic Four’.
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Gremio forward Luan has been making waves in the Brazilian top flight since making his first-team debut in 2014 and his performances ahead of the games have been attracting heavy interest from reigning Premier League champions Leicester City.
The Sao Paulo native failed to make the grade with any of the big clubs close to home and so travelled south in 2013 to join up with Gremio in Porto Alegre where he has since grown into one of Brazil’s brightest young talents.
Now 23, he is leading the line for Roger Machado’s side after breaking through as the revelation of the local state championships in 2014 before going on to be named in the national league’s team of the season the following year.
It’s been a meteoric rise for the youngster who can operate on both flanks but does his best work with more freedom to roam from a central position.
His emergence following former coach Luiz Felipe Scolari’s exit in 2014 coincided with a dramatic change in fortunes for Gremio. After impressing locally, he exploded on the national stage and in 2015 hit 10 goals to ensure the resurrection was complete with Copa Libertadores qualification.
He is now contributing both goals and assists for his club and his ability to operate either right up top or drop off and leave space for others could see him provide the perfect foil to the Brazil Olympic coach Rogerio Micale’s ‘Golden Trio’ after some encouraging experiments in training over the past week.
"Micale asked that the four of us to keep moving, not to have a fixed position,” Luan told the press from Brazil’s Granja Comary training complex.
“We have to attack and defend with all eleven players. He asks that we communicate, cover ground and make sure we know what we are doing on the field.”
Standing 5’11”, Luan’s intelligence of movement has stood out as much as his pace and acceleration. Micale has been impressed with his footballing intelligence and his desire to drop off and look to play in his team-mates. As well as being a prime candidate for the false no.9 role, he could well feature as an attacking midfielder.
So impressive has his form been, local reports suggest Leisceter will have competition from a number of big European clubs if they wish to prise the 23-year-old from Gremio this year.
But right now, all Luan is focused on doing is turning three into four. He’ll avoid much of the spotlight in the run-up to Brazil’s opening game next month but, come the end of August, all eyes could well be on Luan Guilherme de Jesus Vieira.
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