Why Anthony’s transition Manchester United has become a jubilee, and who is chasing Alisson?
It has gone down in history
Winger Anthony’s appearance at Manchester United seriously rocked an already hot English market, which in some respects has become a record. The 22-year-old Brazilian, who moved to Old Trafford for more than £ 86m, was immediately noticed when he opened the scoring in the Premier League match against Arsenal in his opening match. In addition, it turned out that Antoni in that match became the 100th Brazilian to have played in the English Premier League since its inception in 1992. Significant milestone.
The first Brazilian ever to play Premier League, became Isaias Soares from Coventry City. He made his Premier League debut by winning 2-1 over Manchester City in the second game of the 1995/96 season. Already from this date, it is clear that the Brazilians had not really taken root in the beginning and were not highly regarded in the English league. But a lot has changed since then.
Although Soares himself hasn’t really caught on in Foggy Albion. The former Benfica forward made only a handful of appearances for Coventry before returning to Portugal in 1997. But he was followed by other Brazilians, another 99 people who have played at least one game. Premier League. And let’s take a look at some of the statistics of Brazilians, or rather, of those who have stood out for something special in England.
Top scorer: Roberto Firmino (Liverpool, 74 goals in 236 games)
The Brazilian player with the highest score in the Premier League is still there and can add to his account. He last scored at the end of August when Liverpool beat Newcastle 2-1. 30-year-old forward this season Premier League scored three goals in five games. Twice he hit the Bournemouth gates in a historic match against Bournemouth (9: 0). But if you look at the total number of goals and the relationship between games and these goals, in general the scores are not that impressive. We also know the most successful Brazilian scorers. But not in the Premier League.
Best assistant: Roberto Firmino (Liverpool, 49 assists in 236 games)
And here too Firmino proves to be an undisputed leader. It can already be assumed that the question is not rather in the nationality and not even in some individual characteristics of the striker, but in the fact that his business has fallen into the era of Liverpool successes and in the special style of Jurgen Klopp, which allows Firmino to draw. and distribute assists. And not in an exceptional volume for this Liverpool, but enough to be an exceptional Brazilian by English standards.
Second on the list of Brazilian assistants is Willian, who recently returned to England signing with Fulham. So the former Arsenal and Chelsea winger can add something to his stats. He currently has 38 assists Premier League.
Most appearances: Fernandinho (Manchester City, 264 appearances)
Fernandinho found himself in the Premier League in 2013 when he moved to Manchester City from Shakhtar Donetsk. And the versatile defensive midfielder has become an indispensable assistant to Josep Guardiola in an exceptional team of “citizens”. He left City at the age of 37.
It’s probably not surprising that Fernandinho is also the most decorated Brazilian in Premier League history. He has five league titles, seven national cups. Now he will try to replenish the trophy account already at home: the midfielder has left for Atletico Paranaense.
Most stoppages: Ederson (Manchester City, 94 of 188 stoppages)
It was said that there were no good goalkeepers in Brazil. And for the Brazilian national team, which has always been famous for its champions in every position, has always been the favorite of every major tournament, the goalkeeper question has often remained the most acute. But this has not been the case in recent years. There is probably no stronger competition in Brazil’s goalkeeper position right now.
At the same time, there weren’t a large number of Brazilian goalkeepers in the Premier League. It is all the more ironic that now the great protagonists of Brazilian goalkeeping are the main goalkeepers of Manchester City and Liverpool, the two main English forces of recent years. But of the 100 Brazilians who played in the Premier League, only five were goalkeepers.
And here Ederson’s leadership in “dry” games is very significant. In second place is predictably Liverpool’s Alisson, but he has only 66 league games without conceding a goal. Premier League. He is not far behind Heurelio Gomez, who scored 53 goalless goals during his stints at Tottenham and Watford. Julius Caesar of CRC with five goalless goals and Bournemouth’s Neto with a clean sheet round off this tight list.
But Alisson, who is behind Ederson here, has another unique result. Furthermore, it is rare not only for Brazilian goalkeepers, but for goalkeepers in general. Alisson managed to score a goal. He did it in May 2021 against West Bromwich Albion (2-1): his header helped to bring victory and qualification for the Champions League.
Club with the largest number of Brazilians
There are two leaders with equal indicators. These are Chelsea and Manchester City. They allowed 13 Brazilian players each to play in the Premier League. Chelsea made their debut in Premier League Willian, Thiago Silva, Kenedy, David Luiz, Ramirez, Oscar, Alex, Philip Luis, Alexandre Pato, Giuliano Belletti, Emerson, Mineiro and Lucas Piazon. Brazilian striker Diego Costa signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2014 but became a Spanish citizen the year before.
And for the City they played Fernandinho, Ederson, Danilo, Jesus, Fernando, Giovanni, Elano, Jo, Robinho, Maicon, Silvinho, Kaiki and Glauber. Arsenal are a little behind, having brought 12 Brazilian players to England. Although he will soon join them – when 19-year-old striker Marquinhos makes his debut in Premier League.
The most expensive Brazilian bought and the most expensive sold
Already mentioned above, Anthony is the most expensive Brazilian ever bought by a Premier League club. By the way, this year’s deal is also in second place. We are talking about the purchase of Manchester United midfielder Casemiro from Real Madrid for 70 million pounds. And contrary to the tradition that English clubs always spend far more than they earn from sales, the record amount for the Brazilian sold was significantly higher. The record belongs to Philippe Coutinho, for whom Liverpool earned around 142 million pounds when he was sold to Barcelona in January 2018.
