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The Daily Mirror reports that Liverpool are in talks to sign 16-year old Brazilian Reinier Jesus.
The midfielder currently plays for Flamengo in his native country, and is under contract with the Rio-based club until 2021. Despite this, Liverpool are said to have opened negotiations with his club over his transfer, although any move will not happen immediately.
International rules prohibit the move of any player abroad until they reach the age of 18 – although there are exemptions for EU-based players – so the intention is for Jesus to sign a contract with the Anfield side now and to move to England in two years’ time, following a similar path to that trodden by Jesus’ teammate Vinicus Junior, who will join Real Madrid in a £38 million deal when he turns 18.
The news has not pleased everybody in Brazil, with former Flamengo club president Kleber Leite lamenting “our young values are being erased prematurely, without even being able to write a page that is in the history of the Brazilian club that put them in the football world.”
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.