Manchester City and Manchester United’s interest in Eduardo Conceição has helped turn the Palmeiras youngster into something of a reference point for scouts looking at Brazil.
The 16-year-old has been followed by some of Europe’s biggest clubs for months. City and United have both held talks around a future deal, although neither has yet made the decisive move.
Now there is an interesting insight from inside the transfer market itself. Eduardo is apparently being used as an example of the type of Brazilian talent most clubs just cannot reach.
Scouts keep bringing up Eduardo
ESPN Brazil attended the latest São Paulo edition of TransferRoom, an event bringing together clubs, agents and other figures from the football industry.
Their reporter Daniel Bocatto noticed something during conversations with scouts: Eduardo’s name kept coming up.
Scouting professionals from European, North American and Saudi Arabian clubs repeatedly mentioned the Palmeiras youngster when discussing recruitment in Brazil.
ESPN explains that he was effectively treated as a “model” for elite young talent. There was also a sense that Eduardo is already an “unattainable player” for the vast majority of clubs.
The reason is quite simple. Players at this level are being watched by Europe’s biggest sides years before they are ready to move abroad. That of course leaves smaller clubs with very little chance of getting ahead of Manchester City, Manchester United and the other heavyweights.
We recently learned with exclusivity from sources in Brazil just how early Manchester United (and Chelsea) are doing that work at Palmeiras. Their scouting operation has been watching players at the club from as young as U12 level.
That fits with what scouts were saying at TransferRoom. By the time a Palmeiras prospect such as Eduardo becomes widely known, clubs like United may already have years of information on him. In this case, even Jürgen Klopp did. And Eduardo has not even made his senior debut yet.
City and United already in that race
That helps put the Premier League interest into perspective. Manchester City and Manchester United have already been involved in discussions around Eduardo, while Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain have also been in contact.
ESPN also reports Palmeiras recently closed the door on an approach worth between £13m (€15m) and £17m (€20m).
Eduardo has nine goals and five assists from 39 appearances for Palmeiras’ youth teams and Brazil this year. He is moving between the U17 and U20 sides while occasionally training with manager Abel Ferreira’s senior squad.
Manchester City and Manchester United therefore find themselves exactly where most clubs would like to be – already inside the race. For everyone else, the feeling among scouts appears to be that getting there now may already be too late.
