Photoby Buda Mendes – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Marcelo Pitaluga has an exceptionally bright future according to
former teammate and brother to Liverpool star Alisson.
While it has yet to be announced by the club, Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign 17-year-old Brazilian
goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga from Fluminense in a deal that could
reach £1.8M with add-ons and that sees the selling club retain a
25% sell-on fee.
The young stopper said his goodbyes to his teammates at
Fluminense on Saturday and is currently in the process of
relocating to England, and that had Muriel Becker—Pitaluga’s now
former teammate and brother to Reds star Alisson—reflecting on the
deal.
“Pitaluga is going there on his merits,” Muriel Becker told
Globo Esporte earlier this week. “Liverpool had
been watching him for a long time. We know the potential he has,
the great goalkeeper he is and, even more, what he will
achieve.
“He is not dazzled, he works hard. I’m sure he will make
football history, so we were very happy with the move. I am also
happy that he will be Alisson’s companion, who will be able to help
him. He is a boy who loves to learn, he is always listening.”
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While a lot of Brazilian players have moved for big money, not
many goalkeepers have, and if Pitaluga hits all of his add-ons to
take his fee to £1.8M it would make his the third most expensive
sale ever of a player at his position by a Brazilian club.
Alisson’s move to Roma from Internacional, at a cost of £6.8M in
2016, is the record. Add in the sell-on fee and Pitaluga’s age—as
he will now be given six or seven seasons to develop—and it seems
clear Liverpool believe he is a special talent.