Santos and the closing of Brazil to the outside world

Santos and the closing of Brazil to the outside world

Santos and the closing of Brazil to the outside world

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By Gordon Fleetwood, our Santos expert

On July 21st, the portal between Brazil and the outside world shut after the summer’s – or winter’s since Brazil is in the Southern Hermisphere -stream of transfers. Well, maybe not a stream. It was more of a brook to be honest. As Libertadores winners, Santos were prime for the picking as the European hawks circled. Unfortunately, the predators were able to capture some members of the shoal, but the group was able to take some of the stores back. This metaphor is becoming increasingly strained. In addition to the men who left, and those who arrived, the big story of the transfer window were the players who stayed put. The rumors surrounding Neymar and Ganso eventually came to nothing as the duo will remain at Santos. Just as important in my view was the retention of Arouca who was the subject of a late bid by Fiorentina.

Of course, this does not conclude Santos’ transfer dealings as the domestic window is there to be exploited. The club is still searching for a backup leftback as well as another cog to supplement the attacking machine. That is a glimpse of the future, but now it is time to look at the past and assess how the change in the makeup of the squad has changed Santos. Without further delay, here’s a summary of Santos international dealings.

Departures

Danilo: FC Porto

The impending departure of Mr. Versatile hung around for a while. I found the conclusion of the saga to be quite funny in the end. As I mentioned before, Santos had the option to pay 37.5% of any bid for Danilo to the third party DIS to prevent the teenager from moving to one of his two main suitors, Porto or Benfica. The club was hesitant to pay the money for a long time. A deal with Benfica was almost secured before the 37.5% stake was finally purchased. That move prompted a change in address from Lisboa to Oporto as Santos decided to sell Danilo to The Dragons instead of The Eagles. That meant that Danilo went for 13.5 million Euros instead of the million Euros that Benfica offered. Not a bad piee of business. Santos is hoping that Danilo will remain at the club on loan until December, but it is likely that Porto will want to use their new asset immediately. 

Alex Sandro: FC Porto

Another piece of business done with the Portuguese giants. This was completely out of Santos’ hands since he was almost entirely by a third party. Porto haven’t confirmed to deal yet because of the U20 World Cup. A tidy fraction of the fee will go the club from the transfer.

Zé Eduardo: Genoa

This was a deal that had been finalized since late February so there wasn’t really much fuss around the striker’s departure. He did want to stay on loan until December to play in the Club World Cup, but it seems that Genoa were not compliant.

Jonathan: Inter Milan

The best rightback Santos has had in a long time stayed at the club for only a couple of months. I wish him good luck in Italy.

Alan Patrick: Shaktar Donestk

The Santos youth product was snatched up by the Ukrainians shortly before the Copa Libertadores final. It’s a bit sad to see him go without ever establishing himself in the first team.

Keirrison: Barcelona…I think

I honestly have no idea where Mr. Lamp Post is. His loan expired right after the Libertadores final but I heard that he was still training with the team while Barcelona figured out what to do with him. Keirrison’s two year spell with the club was a huge disappointment after all the promise he brought. I hope he gets career on track.

Arrivals

Alan Kardec: Benfica

The 22 year old comes on a one loan as a reinforcement for the understaffed striking department. Borges has some company now. I was never a big fan of Kardec when I did see him before the move, but that’s not to say that there isn’t talent there. He is that big target man center forward that the squad lacks at the moment, and I think that he’ll fit well in Muricy’s system.

Ibson: Spartak Moscow

What a deal. The former Flamengo man will brings the versatility that was lost in the form of Danilo. He can play as a primary defensive midfielder, a secondary defensive midfielder, or even as a playmaker. With his quality, I fully expect him to start once he is integrated into the squad. I think the deal to bring him to the Vila Belmiro was in the region of 4 million Euros.

That was the sum of the dealings on the international stage. I think Santos did some good business without severely draining the squad of talent. Zé Eduardo and Keirrison weren’t really losses in my opinion since they hardly did anything of note in the past few months. Alan Patrick, though talented, was on the bench most of the time, and there is already a replacement for him at the club. It was the moves of Danilo, Jonathan, and Alex Sandro that cut deep. The purchase of Ibson should lessen the impact of Danilo’s leaving but the loss of the two fullbacks leaves Santos bare in that area.

Now to look at the internal market with a view to doing an assessment of the current squad.

Movement within Brazil

Only three players left the club in the form of goalkeeper Felipe, midfielder Charles, and winger/striker Maikon Leite.

The first two weren’t significant losses in any respect. I’m still depressed about Maikon Leite. Additions to the squad include defensive midfielder Henrique and rightback Leandro Silva. The latter was plucked from obscurity in the second division while the former adds considerable depth to the midfield. They join earlier signings Borges, Roger, and Rychely. Borges is the only one of the three who has proved his worth up to this point. The two R’s have looked out of their depth. Rychely runs and runs and runs without doing anything. Roger is a more complicated case since he is being forced to played as a central playmaker. It’s a task that he is clearly not up to.

The Santos hierarchy is still looking to add to these signings. Reinforcements for the fullback position and the attack are the priority.

The Knock-on Effect

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With Neymar, Ganso, and Elano back in training, Muricy will finally have the full squad to work with. The question is how will the starting XI look now that the squad has changed significantly.

The biggest issue is rightback. Pará is definitely not a permanent replacement, but is the new guy the solution? It will be interesting to see if Leandro starts against Flamengo next Wednesday. Léo is a stalwart at leftback but at 36 he can hardly be expected to play all the time. Muricy did surprisingly use Wesley Santos to fill in for Léo in the last game. The youngster gave a fairly good account of himself. He could be the backup until another signing is made. The fullback problem makes me wonder if a switch to a 3-5-2 may be on the cards. Central defense is one position that is well stocked.

In any case, the three man frontline should stay the same. Ganso will be the playmaker behind Borges and Neymar in attack. Kardec will have to do something miraculous to wrest the position of central striker away from Borges. A place on the bench is his lot until this miracle comes forth. Felipe Anderson and Rychely; the replacements for Ganso and Neymar respectively, will keep him company there. The midfielders who will be subs is the biggest headache. There are three positions and five men looking to fill them. One spot is going to Arouca without question. It’s the other two that are up in the air. The defensive midfielder spot is between Henrique and Adriano. Other fans seem to think Adriano will lose out in that battle. I’m not so sure. However, since Adriano is out injured at the moment, Henrique has the opportunity to cement his name in the starting XI. The other midfield position comes down to either Elano or Ibson. I think Ibson wins everyday. I honestly can’t remember the last good game that Elano played. Sadly, he has been just another body in the midfield for a long time. If Ibson plays to the level that he is capable of, the position should be his to take.

Until Next Time, 

Vai pra cima deles Santos!