The next Marcelo? 

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Every major European club scouts South America extensively with the aim of snapping up the best emerging talents on the continent. Some of the best players in the world across the last twenty years have hailed from South America in Lionel Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo. Brazil and Argentina, in particular, are acclaimed hotbeds of talent with Vinicius Jr, Julián Alvarez and Estêvão emerging in recent years. 

Not all players live up to expectations, which are often heightened without detailed knowledge and are based purely off hype. But the opposite is also true with Santos left-back Joao Victor de Souza earning rave reviews for his performances in the Brazilian second-tier. Souza – the common abbreviation of his full name – has progressed into Santos’ first-team across recent months and the left-back is attracting interest from Chelsea and Barcelona, amongst other European giants. 

Who is Souza?

The 18-year-old has progressed through the ranks at boyhood club Santos and he made his first-team debut against Chapecoense in July. Souza has been eased into the first team and he’s only started two games, playing 219 minutes in total in Serie B, providing two assists. Perhaps just a lazy stereotype, but Souza has been compared to legendary Brazilian left-back Marcelo due to his style of play and he’s shown excellent skill from an attacking standpoint, which has been aided by playing as a winger and in midfield during his youth career. Souzo is exceptionally quick and he’s also dependable defensively, which can be a legitimate criticism of modern full-backs. 

Marcos Watts, Transfermarkt’s Brazilian football expert, believes Souza could be destined for greatness. “Despite him being a fast and skilful full-back, the interest from top European clubs in Souza is a bit unexpected this early in his career,” Watts said. “Don’t let the numbers fool you however: the few minutes he’s got were enough for him to bag in two assists and make people wonder if what once was a promising Santos academy player is now set to become the newest Vila Belmiro sensation. He certainly needs more minutes to prove that he’s as good as some expect, but you might want to remember the name.

Which clubs want to sign Souza? 

It’s understood that Chelsea are leading the race to sign Souza with the Stamford Bridge side famously targeting the signatures of the best young players across recent years. According to Spanish outlet AS, Chelsea plan on signing the Santos starlet before loaning him out to their sister club Strasbourg in France to acclimatise him to the demands of European football. 

Barcelona, however, have also registered an interest in Souza, while reports also suggest that Saudi Arabian clubs could tempt the Brazilian with lucrative contract offers. The major issue for Santos is that Souza’s contract expires next summer, so they’ll miss out on a sizable transfer fee unless they can convince him to pen an extension. The left-back’s contract situation makes him even more desirable and increases the chances of a major club securing a deal in January with Santos ensuring they receive a nominal fee.